UPDATE: Please note that since the original posting, the dates have been revised to January 25 and February 15 instead of December 18 and January 15.

Are You?

• An entrepreneur or a small organization with a great idea and need assistance and
resources to turn your idea into reality?
• Looking for talent with ICT and workplace-ready skills?

Learn about the ACE Project Space and the ITAC Career Ready Program

The ACE Project Space helps entrepreneurs at the early stages of their business development and community partners reach their goals and have long-term success by working together, sharing experiences, and experimenting with new ideas. Community partners and entrepreneurs can also get advice on business decisions and discuss success strategies. The ACE Project Space is a safe environment for entrepreneurs, industry leaders, community organizations, and students to work together and have a chance to make a difference in their community. Read More →

Thanks everybody who came out for the great big Halloween photo today! Happy Halloween!

Haider Presenting on Machine Learning

Launching the New Media Manitoba (NMM) Lunch & Learn series this year, our Applied Computer Education (ACE) department chair, Haider Al-Saidi, delivered a compelling presentation on Machine Learning Techniques.

The slide deck is now available to view via SpeakerDeck.com: Read More →

We are excited to announce that Manitoba’s first BTM Talent Mash will take place on Saturday, October 28 at Red River College’s Roblin Centre in Winnipeg’s Exchange District. Talent Mash events are held at post-secondary institutions across Canada which offer Business Technology Management (BTM) programs.

This event will give students, industry representatives, and RRC staff the opportunity to talk about the BTM program and how graduates can help to bridge the gap between the business and technology functions of an organization. Speakers representing various industries will discuss the roles, skills, and career paths of business analysts and other related professionals in their organizations.

BTM is a new diploma program at Red River College and our first students will graduate in December. The program includes a co-op or industry project term so that students can apply the skills they have learned.

The BTM Talent Mash includes a keynote speaker, panel discussions, and a networking event:

9:30    Registration and breakfast
10:00  Welcome and Opening Remarks (Kirk Johnson, Jan Hall, David Jones)
10:15  Keynote Address – Loren Cisyk (IBM)
11:15  Business Analyst Alumni Panel
12:00  Lunch
1:00  Industry Panel
1:45 – 3:30  Networking session
2:30 and 3:30  Tours of the ACE Space at 321 McDermot Avenue

The Talent Mash is free of charge for BTM students and industry guests. If you register as an industry representative, we will contact you about options to showcase your organization during our afternoon networking sessions. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

To register, please follow this link.

Applied Computer Education & ACME

2017/2018 ACE & ACME STAFF LIST

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Haider Al-Saidi – Chair of Accounting and Computer Education
Marnie Boulet – BIT and IBIT Program Coordinator
David Jones – BTM Program Coordinator
Dan Greenberg – Co-Op and Industry Project Coordinator
Rachell Acebo – Administrative Assistant
Karla King – Operations Assistant

EXCHANGE DISTRICT CAMPUS INSTRUCTORS

Read More →

Ben Akoh, Ph.D(C), M.Ed., B.Tech
Instructor, Applied Computing Education, RRC

In 2013, I travelled by road for the first time to Thompson 760 kms north of Winnipeg, Manitoba, to present a paper at the Manitoba Education Research Network (MERN) conference held at the University College of the North  (UCN) Thomson campus. It was my very first trip to the “North” and I was very excited. This trip would eventually define the course of my life. My initial stop over was at the UCN’s Center in Misipawistik Cree Nation (Grand Rapids), 430 kms north of Winnipeg, where I experienced, for the first time, the technological challenges that Indigenous learners faced; not only with accessing content, but in pedagogy, planning, and in the delivery of learning. While I fell in love with the North and its people, I was disgruntled by the challenges that they faced, reminding me of my own humbling indigenous backgrounds. Read More →

The objective of this project is to provide students with the opportunity to create a professional portfolio using an ePortfolio product called Mahara. We will pilot this in the BTM program with a group of 30 students starting in January 2016. Lead instructors will be trained in portfolio facilitation and development to provide guidance to students. Students will create ePortfolios based on the program outcomes, course outcomes, college wide learning outcomes and other skills and abilities they may have.

Benefits of an ePortfolio implementation in the college

• Portfolios are a great mode of assessment to determine knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA)
• Students will self-assess their learning and take ownership of their learning as they complete their ePortfolios and program
• Students will have an ePortfolio to show potential employers
  • During co-op placement
  • During Industry project placement
  • After graduation, as a lifelong learning resource
• Students are accountable for mastering content standards in subject areas
• Portfolios can help students who would like to continue their studies and receive RPL credits
• Assessment portfolios promote communication between teachers and students
• Faculty advising easier as students can show their learning progress through ePortfolio
• Helps students get interview as it shows more than just a resume and cover letter
• Help students reflection on KSA and develop skills in meaningful self-assessment
• More student instructor collaboration

The project ACE Technology Corner is an amazing idea that our Chair, Haider Al-Saidi had. He asked these three nerds (Sylvia, Miguel & Pawan) to work on it and make it a reality.

Once upon a time (2015 AD) during the summer, Haider found out that RRC has had these Solar Panels installed 10 years ago, and he found a new application for them. Guess what?? The Solar Panels have been merely energizing our department’s staff by powering their coffee machine! No wonder our staff has been so greenly energized all the time. Haider thought of utilizing this massive power source. He decided to go to the nerdiest bunch in the department. This project will provide students an opportunity to work on a side-project in learning about Raspberry Pi and micro-controller technology, while providing a place for students to re-charge their phones, iPad and laptops etc.  That’s it, and the rest is history. #WIP

The Accounting and Computer Education department awarded 33 awards to students in Business Information Technology, Introduction to Business Information Technology and Applied Accounting.  On Wednesday, June 17 the award winners and their guests attended the Awards presentation at Roblin Centre to receive their awards.

Thank you to our Business Information Technology Advisory Committee Chair, Gerry Glatz, for helping to hand out the awards.

Thank you to our award sponsors, Eileen Penner, the Huhtala Family, Gladys Bell, Paterson GlobalFoods, Ricoh Canada, MTS, and Great West Life.

Awards Program 2015

Ready to count traffic? CounterPoint makes it easy. Count bikes, count pedestrians, count cars, count people in wheelchairs..and more!

CounterPoint’s users are helping to plan a better future for everyone, just by counting traffic. It relies on crowdsourcing and, like Wikipedia, is an amazingly reliable and easy way to gather important data.

All of the data is yours to download, analyse and share. You get instant graphs every count. Come back to the same spot next year to compare!

Developed by Canadian non-profit Green Action Centre, CounterPoint aims to make traffic counting easier and comparable everywhere. Each count you do adds to what we know about all kinds of traffic (not just cars). The important data generated by counterpoint users will help plan better bike lanes, monitor safer school zones, make stronger cases for new crosswalks and more!

BIT students helped to created the web application version of CounterPoint in 2012 and a prototype for an Android application in 2014.

View and download the CounterPoint App