Newsletter

February Newsletter

Upcoming Webinar This Month!

February 17 – 2:00 pm Eastern — http://bit.ly/CANeLearn2

  • State of the Nation: K12 eLearning in Canada

    • In this session Michael Barbour, lead author of this Canadian-based research, will provide a quick overview of research compiled on blended and online learning in Canada. Innovation, new directions and successes will be part of a discussion on how to expand this research to serve educators, schools and programs across Canada. Participants will learn how to use the new website which boasts all the print research compiled into sections and a searchable database.

Stay Connected!

  • Use #CANeLearn to stream specific items of interest to members.  Join the conversation!
  • Join CANeLearn – Membership information here https://new.canelearn.net/membership-account/membership/
  • Sign up for email copies of our news.
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In the news…


Worth a quick look…

Speak Up 2014 Survey Results

Project Tomorrow’s (USA) annual Speak Up Research Project provides educators worldwide with data about how students view the use of digital tools for learning based upon surveys of students themselves.  The 2014 report summarizes the views of 431,231 K-12 students representing over 8,000 schools and 2,600 districts in the United States and around the world in four specific types of learning environments:
  1. Students using school provided laptops, tablets, or Chromebooks to support their education;
  2. Students in blended learning environments;
  3. Students whose learning is 100 percent online or virtual; and
  4. Students participating in STEM academies, school tech support team, or computer programming/coding clubs.
Key Findings from this year’s report include (note data is largely US-based):
  • Blended learning environments hold great promise with many already yielding positive results.
  • Students in blended environments use technology more frequently and are more likely to self-direct their learning outside of school online.
  • Online learning continues to increase with less than one quarter of schools reporting no online courses for students.
  • Most students with access to technology to learn agreed that every student should be able to use a mobile device during the school day for learning and see the smartphone as the ideal device for communicating with teachers and classmates.
You can find the full report here (PDF):

 
From Down Under: Blended, Online Learning and Distance Education Research Bank

  • BOLDE contains details of books, articles, conference papers and reports on various aspects of distance and online education, from publishers in Australia and overseas. Material is drawn from the Australian Education Index, produced by Cunningham Library, with additional material sourced from a variety of international organisations and publishers. There are currently 11,728 records in the research bank.
  • More information here http://opac.acer.edu.au/drde/index.html

Tech Alert


Upcoming Events

February 3 – 1:00 pm Eastern

  • Blueprinting your Course – Lise Pethyridge, ADLC
    • The key to a great course is a great design. At the Alberta Distance Leaning Centre, we have over time developed processes to help teachers build better courses. The blueprint, an involved process around defining outcomes, an assessment plan and a student learning path as a collaborative effort is the first step. Join me as I outline this process and hopefully give you tools to apply to your own course design.

February 17 – 2:00 pm Eastern

  • State of the Nation: K12 eLearning in Canada

    • In this session Michael Barbour, lead author of this Canadian-based research, will provide a quick overview of research compiled on blended and online learning in Canada. Innovation, new directions and successes will be part of a discussion on how to expand this research to serve educators, schools and programs across Canada. Participants will learn how to use the new website which boasts all the print research compiled into sections and a searchable database.

2016 Digital Learning Conference: Transforming Learning: Innovation and Opportunities in DL and Beyond

blendED 2016: Alberta’s Blended and Online Symposium

Other webinar and PD events, including URL/locations, can be found on our Online Webinars page here or our Google PD Calendar here.


Of interest…

VIU’s Graduate Diploma in Online Learning and Teaching (OLTD) Welcomes You!
Distance learning is one of BC’s educational growth areas and teachers with expertise in this rewarding field are in popular demand. The program was designed in cooperation with professionals and school district distance learning principals to meet the needs of today’s 21st Century online learners.
This innovative, two-year part-time, fully-online, 30 credit program, develops confident educators competent in the use of existing and emergent technologies to optimize online learning and teaching opportunities for diverse learners in equally diverse environments. Through digital immersion in a variety of environments, students will explore theory and its practical applications based on research, as well as current and emergent practices. Topics include Social Networking, OER, Mobile Learning and Gamification, Emerging Technologies, Online Communication and more.
The program engages a cohort model of 25 seats and meets industry and school district needs for knowledgeable and skilled distance educators focused on engagement, achievement and student success.
Applications for our September 2016 cohort will be accepted throughout the year until seats are filled.
Additional program information is available here 
https://www.viu.ca/education/programs/diploma/oltd/
Please contact us for further information:
Mary O’Neill,
OLTD Program Coordinator,
Faculty of Education,

mary.oneill@viu.ca
250.753.3245, local 2550
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