The Dog Days of Summer - My Co-op with the OVC

Posted 14 January 2021

Introduction

This post is a reflection on my two terms working under the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC). My supervisor was Taylor Scully, a Learning Pathways Officer for students studying Veterinary Medicine.

About the OVC

The Ontario Veterinary College is a veterinary school located in Guelph, ON, on the University of Guelph’s campus. Established in 1862, the OVC ranked 5th in the world for Veterinary Medicine by QS World University Rankings.

ovc The Ontario Veterinary College Main Building, Guelph, ON

Job Description

As Richard Riley, former US Secretary of Education said “as students complete their studies they will be doing jobs that do not exist as of today”. This was the case for me!

As a Instructional and Technical Support Assistant, my job was to help the OVC research and prepare materials, resources, and assets to enable professors and faculty to create meaningful and engaging learning experiences for the upcoming remote Fall and Winter semesters.

This role meant that I would be helping to create best practice documents and tip sheets to help professors create engaging material for their students, create videos and multimedia assets using programs such as Adobe Premiere and Articulate 360. I also assisted course design teams in creating and proofreading storyboards that were used to redesign labs and seminars for an online experience.

A large part of being a Software Engineer is being able to adapt and innovate as challenges and issues arise. This role gave me an opportunity to work on my soft skills such as communication, organization, and collaboration. In addition, I gained a wealth of experience making professional, attractive, and concise materials and multimedia lessons for students. I utilized skills from my User Interface Design class, such as ghost buttons and using modern typefaces to add polish and professionalism to my work.

Working remotely was a unique challenge. I had to adapt to a schedule where I worked independently and hold myself accountable. This also meant separating my personal and professional life.

Summer Term Goals

One aspect that motivated me to work for the OVC was being able to receive certification in Course Redesign and Remote Pedagogy. By understanding how courses are constructed, I will be a better teaching assistant because it taught me how students learn and think. In order to accomplish this goal, I had to plan ahead and set time aside to work on the course and absorb the material.

award I successfully completed the Remote Pedagogy course. One goal down!

One of my hobbies is photo and video editing, so I was excited to build on my previous experiences. In the past, I edited videos using Sony Vegas Pro, but I wanted to expand my skills to include Adobe Premiere, which is now the preferred tool for professionals and hobbyists alike. During the summer, I didn’t get an opportunity to do any video editing work due to a lack of demand. However, I got the opportunity to use Adobe Premiere in the summer.

One of my goals for the future is to be a Project Manager in a Software Engineering environment. Every industry is integrating software and technology into more aspects of their business. By having experience in managing projects in a variety of industries, I wanted to understand what priorities non-software projects have. Accomplishing this goal meant learning more about project management, as well as reviewing what I had learned in my Software Design classes.

Winter Term Goals

For this goal, I wanted to implement what I learned from my remote pedagogy course by learning more advanced features of the software that I used, such as Articulate. Pursuing this goal allowed me to understand the intricacies and features of the software. This allowed me to communicate professors’ messages in a clear and concise way.

To accomplish this, I took a Linkedin Learning course about creating visually captivating online content. I also wanted to explore other technology that can help students learn in captivating ways, but due to time constraints I was not able to fully follow my original plan. However, my work saw an improvement over time.

As a Software Engineering student, I wanted to apply the skills and knowledge that I learned in my classes and adapt them to the needs of the OVC. This meant using my project management skills from my Software Design classes and user interface skills from my User Interface Design class. I accomplished this goal and met my deadlines, making sure that professors had sufficient time to review the work and request changes as needed, implementing SCRUM-like workflow.

jellybean The students were just as happy as Jellybean was about my work

Conclusion

My work terms at the OVC were unconventional because my role and work that I did was brand new to everyone. My work of creating learning tools and digitizing course material, helped to bolster the University of Guelph’s motto of “Improve Life” by making online learning equal, or in some cases better than in-person learning. Many of the professors stated that they will continue to use my material in the future.

Acknowledgements

I’d like to thank all of the people that I met and worked with during my time at the OVC. This includes my supervisor Taylor, Dale, Carole, as well as my teammates Andrew D., Andrew P., Rabia, O’Neal, and Alim. I’d also like to thank all of the professors that I worked with during my time at the OVC. I had an outstanding time, and I’m grateful for the oppurrtunity.