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Green Party’s O’Donnell tops social media report card

October 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If Ottawa’s online political landscape were a virtual high school, the Green Party’s Kevin O’Donnell would be class valedictorian.

The Ottawa Centre candidate gets top marks for his online presence from local social media analyst Mark Blevis, who graded the candidates from nine eastern Ontario ridings in his digital campaign report card released today. In fact, of the 36 candidates Blevis looked at, O’Donnell got the only “A”—perhaps not that surprising, as O’Donnell’s bio highlights his extensive background in the tech sector.

In addition to O’Donnell’s grade, Blevis hands out nine Bs, 17 Cs, six Ds, and three Fs. Generally speaking, the online world remains an “afterthought” for candidates, he says:

Digital remains an afterthought in many campaigns. Oddly, this is just as apparent, perhaps moreso, among the younger candidates as with some of the more seasoned politicians. The role of digital in our lives and as part of politics has evolved substantially in a short time. Candidates and their campaigns need to do their homework when they prepare a strategy. They should know how traditional and digital campaign activities augment each other. Campaigns should also know that people expect to find what they’re looking for, online, and quickly. And, they want quality. The newest wrinkle is, increasingly, people want to engage with their elected representatives.

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Vancouver School Board goes Greek with new language course

August 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Roughly 17,000 people with Greek roots live in B.C., but their language is being lost through second and third generations.

That’s one of the reasons the Vancouver Learning Network, a Vancouver School Board virtual school based at John Oliver secondary, is launching an online Greek language course this September.

The VLN partnered with Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Hellenic Studies, which launched its online course six years ago.

“They had a lot of the content already built that they could give us so that we could get a good start at the course,” explained VLN vice principal Jim Stassinopoulos. “This is community-backed from the Greek community and from the Greek consulate.”

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Francophone school board looking to revitalize Gravelbourg boarding school

June 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Still, though enrolment has fallen to a total of about 25 students in the high school, Roy said the conseil’s member’s are “very, very positive” that they want to keep these services in place for the estimated francophone students in Saskatchewan who don’t currently have a French-language high school in their communities. “We need to have these services where we don’t have a school — and also to be open to receive students from other schools.”

Another target market would be students using the conseil’s “virtual school” – what used to be called a correspondence school. “Maybe, when they arrive in high school, they’d like to have experience with a group,” Roy said, adding that being in the residence in College Mathieu would be a good way to experience that.

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Manager sought for historic school

June 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

It added an adult education service in 1986 and a “virtual school” in 1998.

Five years later, it came under the control of the Conseil des ecoles fransaskoises, which administers 15 schools across the province, ranging from kindergarten to Grade 12.

In the past, the college has had a national reputation for its mix of academics and sports, particularly hockey, and drew students from across Western Canada. “It wasn’t just necessarily for francophones,” said Roy, who is a former principal of the college.

In a way, Roy added, the college has been the inadvertent victim of the growth of the conseil and its educational counterparts in other provinces.

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B-schools must leap online or lose out

April 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Online learning works. Virtual learning techniques have been evolving at amazing speed in terms of effectiveness and, above all, interaction, and bear no relation to the “set of slides piped down the wire” of five years ago. Students can delve for more detail on specific areas of content, case studies and methods, get instant help if stuck, question their instructor and discuss ideas and solutions with their fellow students. And, of course, do all these things online from their home, office or workbench – or from the train or the airport.

Equally, many companies across a range of sectors have embraced e-learning. The leading banks that are using BlackBerrys for regulatory compliance training provide just one example. Indeed, the arrival of powerful mobile devices is key, especially for senior people who must often learn while travelling.

In businesses, online provision can spark a considerable amount of productive interaction between a company’s employees scattered across many global locations. Although this is not the same as a face-to-face business meeting, it can be equally, and sometimes more, effective. After all, a lot of bright people today are happy to give their views online but might hesitate to speak in the classroom.

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Teaching with technology: WSU examines status quo, benefits of online learning in Canada

April 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

DETROIT — The Keeywaytinook tribe in northern Ontario, Canada, couldn’t afford a high school, and its youth, some as young as 13 years old, had no option but to live in unfamiliar communities to attend school. But this option sparked a culture shock among some students that impeded their ability to learn and was even fatal in some cases. To address the issue, the tribe developed an online high school to provide its youth with distance learning that actually kept them closer to home.

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Teachers, parents outraged over potential staff cuts in Newmarket

April 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If the positions are eliminated, it would save the district $158,616 — $88,120 for the full-time French teacher and $70,496 for the part-time teacher (.8 of a position). However, first- and second-year French programs would no longer be available to students. Students’ options would include enrolling in French through the Virtual High School program in SAU 16 or taking Spanish classes.

Reid also spoke on the necessity of the librarian position, emphasizing that the state requires a librarian for each school.

School Board members also discussed whether to keep in place the 2 percent increases in salaries for administrators and personnel on the top of the pay scale.

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School board warns of student impact as it cuts back on consultants

March 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The positions lost include two literacy mentors, a virtual school consultant, a grade 7 to 12 assessment consultant, two French programming consultants, two technology infrastructure student information system implementation consultants, an active healthy living consultant and three Reading Recovery lead teachers.

Consultants who will lose their jobs were notified on Monday.

Milner said the area will likely have a significant impact on all areas, but specifically French programming.

“I’m particularly concerned about our French languages – we were stretched thin as it was,” he said.

Board superintendent Gary Clarke said the job cuts were not the board’s idea.

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Online learning may overtake classroom, conference told

February 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The classroom may not be a thing of the past but it could be heading for minority status in universities.

An academic and author said Tuesday higher education is quickly moving toward online learning despite universities and faculty that remain steeped in the past and don’t use technology well.

Tony Bates, an educational consultant whose resume includes a stint as a research chair in e-learning in Spain and director of distance education at UBC, spoke to a conference on the digital future of higher education Tuesday at Thompson Rivers University.

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Lampman’s Maureen Ulrich will participate in virtual event

January 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Saskatchewan Horizons chapter of the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP) has partnered with the Credenda Virtual High School and College in Prince Albert to host the event. They will provide the virtual meeting room, technical support and a virtual classroom with information about the authors and their books.

“The response from Saskatchewan schools is phenomenal,” said CANSCAIP Saskatchewan president Linda Aksomitis. “Registration faxes and e-mails are still pouring in from all around the province as our committee starts scheduling the twelve sessions.”

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