Welcome to the May CANeLearn news. This issue announces the return of CANeLearn Live! webinars – reprise of some 2017 CANeLearn Symposium & BC Digital Learning Conference sessions (see all archives here), along with news, sites, and articles of interest. Scroll down for more!

Featured Events

Symposium Highlight Webinars: CANeLearn Live! series returns

• Thursday, May 18 – 4:30 pm Eastern
  • 3D Animation for art & technology:  Creating unique opportunities for students by partnering with industry and other institutions
    
• Tuesday, May 23 – 2:00 pm Eastern
  • Adventures in Deep Learning
• Thursday, May 25 – 2:00 pm Eastern
  • Man vs. Machine: What about Teachers?
• Tuesday, June 6 – 3:30 pm Eastern
  • Using Curriculum to Drive Assessment (or if you prefer) Curriculum Mapping and Assessment

Click here to find out more or on the PD Calendar.

4T Virtual Conference: Teachers Teaching Teachers about Technology – Free, online, May 20 – 22

• The conference is FREE and OPEN to all educators
• Sessions target K-12 practicing and preservice teachers (view a session from last year)
• http://www.4tvirtualcon.com/

CANeLearn Leadership Summit – August 24 & 25

• Intercontinental hotel, downtown Toronto ON
• Details to be announced

2017 BOLTT (Bringing Online Teachers Together) Annual Conference – October 13

• Intercontinental hotel, downtown Toronto ON
• http://www.oelc.ca/boltt
• Call for presentations open

blendED: Alberta’s Blended & Online Symposium – October 25-27

• Radisson Hotel Edmonton South, Edmonton, Alberta
• http://www.blendedalberta.ca/
• The focus of the 3-day symposium is on applying flexible learning strategies in various learning spaces!

Stay Connected!

• Use #CANeLearn to stream specific items of interest to members. Join the conversation!
• Follow @CANeLearn, Like us on Facebook, Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
• Join CANeLearn – only $50 for associate membership! – information at https://new.canelearn.net/membership-account/membership/
• Check out our Members Site

Announcements

Free MOOC: Deep Learning through Transformative Pedagogy

• This 4-week MOOC from edX & Microsoft Education started Monday
• Register or find more information here

CANeLearn YouTube Channel

• Our new YouTube channel contains recordings from all of the CANeLearn webinars, as well as featured webinars from iNACOL, MVLRI, and CIDER: Subscribe to our YouTube channel here

2017 Symposium Curated Site

• Check out links to documents, notes, and some recorded sessions at the Curated Content & Discussion Site (free to access)

Canadian Copyright Decision Tool

• Copyright Decision Tool from the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada: http://copyrightdecisiontool.ca/

In the news…

From the Canadian Education Association (CEA)

• To Share or Not to Share: How Teens Make Privacy Decisions about Photos on Social Media
• This MediaSmarts study shows how teens carefully compose, select, and edit the photos they share on social media to build and maintain a consciously crafted image. Some of the unwritten rules the teens followed when making decisions about privacy and publicity on photo-sharing platforms include:
  • Posting only “safe” photos that steer away from controversial topics like politics, religion, sexuality, and race;
  • Not taking a screenshot of someone’s Snapchat photo;
  • Not connecting with strangers online (although they had a very narrow definition of what a “stranger” was);
  • “Looking good” in every photo, but being careful not to present themselves in a sexualized context.
• Read more here (PDF)

Bookmark for your summer reading…

• Heather Marie Farmer, Jennifer Ramsdale
• A study of key competency areas for online educators
• The Online Teaching Competency (OTC) Matrix includes five competency areas:
  • Community & Netiquette,
  • Active Teaching/Facilitating,
  • Instructional Design,
  • Tools & Technology, and
  • Leadership & Instruction
• Read more here…

• Recent Masters papers on topics related to blended and online learning from Vancouver Island University
• https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/1985/recent-submissions

Statewide Blended Learning Implementation (PDF)

• Second report in a series from MVLRI focused on a state-wide blended learning implementation initiative in Rhode Island
• A total of seven themes were identified from the interviews and focus groups as being crucial for meaningful blended learning implementation at the district level:
  1. Assessing Needs for Personalizing an Implementation Plan
  2. Stakeholders Balancing Their Roles and the Learning Process
  3. Breaking Down Silos to Cultivate Reciprocal Learning Opportunities for All Stakeholders
  4. Building Buy-in Through Constant and Transparent Communication
  5. Establishing Mini Pilots Within Schools
  6. Empowering Teachers Using a Train-the-Trainer, Sustainable Professional Development Model
  7. Letting Go of Perfection and Control, Embracing the Art of Failing Forward, and Cultivating a Safe Space for Change
• Each of these themes is described using participant data in the report found here

More from the MVLRI Library

• Michigan’s K-12 Virtual Learning Effectiveness Report, 2015-16
  Findings presented are based on data reported to the state by Michigan public schools, including those from LEAs, PSAs and Intermediate School Districts.
• The Changing Roles of Educators Series: The Blended Teacher
  This study, the second in a series examining the shifts in the roles and responsibilities of K-12 educators as a result of evolving instructional models, focuses on teachers implementing elements of blended learning in their classrooms.
• Student Pathways Through Online Algebra 1 Courses
  In 2016, the Institute for Learning Technologies (ILT) at Teachers College, Columbia University, received a fellowship from MVLRI to investigate learning pathways in Algebra 1A courses offered byMichigan Virtual School.
• Examining Credit Recovery Experience at a State Virtual School
  This report begins discussion on the topic of credit recovery by testifying to the concept that students who have different reasons for taking online courses perform differently.
• iEducator 21st century Digital Learning Corps: iEd Blog Network Analysis
  As discussed iniEducator 21st Century Digital Learning Corps: Program Design and Reflection, (part one of the series) iEds were asked to contribute regularly to publicly available blogs (the focus of part two of this series).
• Public Awareness and Views of K-12 Online Learning in Michigan 2016 »
  From December 7 to 12, 2016, Public Sector Consultants Inc. (PSC) conducted a telephone poll with 800 adult residents of Michigan to obtain their opinions about online learning opportunities for public school students in the state.
• Games Used in K-12 Schools: A Research Perspective »
  This report provides an overview of the literature on the use of digital games in education with a focus on K-12 students and will provide practical recommendations on the use of specific games, game genres, and categories.
• Helping Online Students Be Successful: Mentor Responsibilities »
  As online enrollments increase, there is a growing need to examine strategies with the potential to improve course outcomes, especially since students in online courses tend to have less success compared to their face-to-face counterparts (Freidhoff, 2016; Miron, G., Gulosino & Horvitz, 2014). One strategy that shows promise is to provide students with an on-site mentor in addition to their online teacher.