Hi all. We trust this email finds you well and enjoying the summer warmth.
First, thank you for attending the July 15/16 meetings in Montreal, including those who did so virtually. We were successful in agreeing on how to move our shared initiative forward, including within an organizational structure with a refined mission/purpose. A lot has transpired in the short week since we were together, and this email is intended to provide you an overview. More details can be found in the attached notes from our meeting.
Organizational Structure
– at our meeting it was agreed to pursue registering our group as a not-for-profit corporation federally
– it was agreed the following would serve as founding directors of the society: Michael Canuel, Vince Hill, Terri Reid, Howard Burnston, Michael Barbour, Greg Bitgood, and Kevin Wttewaall (7)
Organizational Mission and Purposes
– we reviewed and refined the vision/mission/purposes from the May 2013 meeting and they are attached in the notes
– the mission and purposes were submitted in the not-for-profit application and are now enshrined in our constitution
Organizational Name
– we short-listed 3 names at the meeting (COBL – confederation of online and blended learning; CNOBEL – canadian network of online and blended e-learning; and CANeLearn – canadian e-learning network)
– we were successful in registering CANeLearn and the formal name of Canadian e-Learning Network yesterday and secured domains for CANeLearn with extensions of .com/ca/net/org
Organizational Activities
– during the breakouts last week the group narrowed activity focus to the following 3 topics:
— pooling and sharing resources – creating a common repository
— communications and professional development strategy
— measuring learning success
– see notes for details
– we also agreed that, while accreditation/certification were important topics to discuss, it was too early to tackle them as yet, needing to first become established
Organizational Funding
– at the meeting it was agreed that founding members would contribute seed money of $1000 per organization
– membership fees would be determined at a later time
– the following organizations agreed to contribute seed money: LEARN, Heritage Christian, Credenda, Rocky View, Black Gold, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba First Nations Ed Resource Centre
– others may also choose to contribute seed money, and that communication will be reserved for a broader announcement and launch of the organization (see communication strategy in the notes)
The founding board will be meeting online August 14 and more information will be forthcoming after that meeting.
In the meantime, should you have any questions about the attached, please let Verena or me know.
Again, thank you all for your valuable input. We are truly proud to be a part of this group, and believe we will look back on these past weeks and year as an important and unique step for Canada and online and blended learning.
Regards,
Randy & Verena
R. LaBonte
V. Roberts