The April 11, 2011 edition of The Insider is now available.

In this edition:

• Highlights from the first round of open forums for the Strategic University Plan.

• Mass retail barely existed a century ago. In her new book, Retail Nation, Donica Belisle traces the beginnings of Canada’s transformation into a modern consumer nation.

• Skating champion Bryce Davison is mapping out a transition strategy for his life, with the help of AU.

·        AU is adding more than 20 new multimedia learning enhancements to high-enrolment online courses as a result of the CAF-funded Showcase Courses project.

• Formal debating is often used in the conventional classroom as a means of promoting critical thinking, but its use and value in online courses is relatively unknown. An Arts and Science Research Talk presented findings that modified debate assignments in online courses had an enormous positive impact on the students’ overall learning experience.

• The current issue of the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning  (Volume 12, Number 3), published by the Centre for Distance Education, is a special issue on connectivism, a term first coined in 2004 by George Siemens, now of AU’s Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute.

• AU EMBA alumnus Michael Conway, along with business professor Dr. Deborah Hurst, recently appeared in a Financial Post article examining the usefulness of networking in today’s fast-paced and complex business environment. Read about Conway and other AU students and alumni in the news.

• Facilities and Services director Greg Wiens has raised $4034.95, so far, for the Canadian Diabetes Association, surpassing his original $2500 goal. See the before and after pictures of his close shave.

• For the first time, AU will participate in the Edmonton and Area Corporate Challenge Games. Sign up to participate.

The next issue of The Insider will be published April 26, 2011. The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 15.