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Top 10 Issue #248, April 4, 2020
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Dear Thought Leader,
With school rescuming on Monday for most of Canada, it will no doubt be a good distraction for all, given this most challenging time in our lives. My daughter in 3rd year university has not skipped a beat with her courses having shifted to online. A much smoother transition given that colleges and universities have been immersed in blended learning for several years.
This past week, many experts chimed in offering advice to prepare for next week's new way of learning. I share a thoughtful quote from Dr. Michael Fullan in our Quotes of the Week. It's really about "Remote Learning" not online learning or eLearning which is causing unnecessary stress amongst some teachers, parents and students. It will be no doubt a bit messy at first until teachers and students find their groove. It's important to enjoy the journey as we all adapt to this new environment.
Remember innovation happens at the speed of trust! Very apropos in this climate of extreme stress and uncertainty. Addressing the mental health of our students, teachers and parents is especially important at this time as so much of our world has changed so significantly in such a short period of time.
On a positive note, this hard reset in our lives, as a result of COVID-19, has thrust us into a massively accelerated technology adoption curve, that will no doubt be considered one of the most transformational periods in our lives - necessity truly is the mother of invention.
As part of our pivot and innovation, we are expanding, This Week in Canadian EdTech from a podcast to a YouTube Channel. I'm honoured to share a sampling of our short videocasts with notable experts in the education and technology space, who share insight on wellness and adapting to extended learning online. You can tune in via the links below:
-- A Lesson on Cyber Safety and Privacy from the CEO of CyberNB as Students Prepare for Remote Learning, featuring, Tyson Johnson, CEO, CyberNB.
--Dr. Alec Couros, University of Regina, on Adapting to Learning at Home during COVID-19
--How School Div. 43 Coquitlam B.C. is Rolling Out Their Learning at Home Strategy, with Patricia Gartland, Superintendent & CEO, and Stephen Whiffin, Director of Instruction & CIO.
In this special edition, we are also pleased to share our 'NEW' FREE Canadian Remote Learning Resource Hub, to support teachers, students and parents, courtesy of Canada's EdTech providers, educators and not for profit organizations. This is Version One, so if you have a great quality tool or resource to share, please drop me a note to include in future editions. It truly takes a digital village to raise a child in the 21st century.
Let's NOT forget to support the many EdTech startups that are on survival mode at the moment. Many have young families and are stretched to the limit at the moment! We'll be reaching out to host a special webinar this week for the EdTech sector in Canada to discuss adapting in challenging times. I'm also looking forward to our first video call with our Canadian Remote Learning at Home Consortium. Similar groups have spawned in other countries. We'll be drawing on the resources of all EdTech and NFPs to fill gaps in resources and support to continue learning during this transitionary period. Stay tuned for more news on this.
I hope you enjoy this week's resource rich Top 10 Canadian stories in EdTech powered by the MindShare Learning Report - Canada's Learning & Technology eMagazine.
Remember, this is marathon, not a sprint. It's about maintaining a positive mindset and seeing the joy in everything we do to inspire others in these challenging times.
We greatly value hearing from you! Keep the comments coming as it raises the bar for us! A friendly reminder to send us your news releases, research, or recommend a podcast topic and upcoming events!
Until next time, stay healthy, be mindful of social distancing, and you will no doubt keep the digital learning curve steep! |
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P.S. We're excited be adapting our Schools of the Future Challenge online to make it fun for teachers and students to enter their video artificats and qualify to WIN fabulous prizes! Stay tuned for more details!
Robert Martellacci, M.A. EdTech
President, MindShare Learning Technology™
Chief Digital Publisher, The MindShare Learning Report™
Founder, MindShare Workspace
CEO & Co-founder, C21 Canada™
Follow us on Twitter @MindShareLearn
https://mindsharelearning.ca/
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New Brunswick education minister announces schools will likely remain closed until the end of the 2019-2020 school year.
"Those families should work with teachers to develop solutions that respond to their needs," Cardy said. He said his department is looking at a range of other options, from community cable changes to newspaper inserts.
-- N.B. Education Minister Dominic Cardy
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As schools and school systems scramble to provide online learning here are a two tips: don't try to do too much --if you do it will be of low quality, and discourage everyone; if you already had a collaborative culture have two or more teachers work together and co-present."
-- Dr. Michael Fullan
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This Week in Canadian EdTech
with Tyler Johnson, CEO, CyberNB on Data Privacy & Security as Students Move to Remote Learning |
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1. How Canadian universities are evaluating students during the coronavirus pandemic
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Maclean's: March 27, 2020
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As recently as March 11th—the same day the WHO officially designated COVID-19 a pandemic—it was more or less business-as-usual for students at Canadian universities. Then, the following day, Laurentian suspended in-person classes, becoming the first public university in Canada to do so. A host of other schools followed suit later that day, and by March 16th, nearly every public university in the country had suspended in-person classes for the remainder of the term. These moves largely followed directives issued by local public health authorities, says Paul Davidson, president of Universities Canada, which is why the changes took place at different speeds across jurisdictions. |
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2. Join the 2020 Minecraft Education Challenge to engage students in creative problem solving
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MicrosoftEdu: April 3, 2020
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Last week, we released a special remote learning toolkit to help educators use Minecraft: Education Edition to keep students engaged during school closures, with more than 100 lessons and project ideas that make use of multiplayer mode and formative assessment tools.
This week, we are excited to launch the 2020 Minecraft Education Challenge! This virtual build challenge invites students around the world to learn about issues related to sustainability and inclusion, then design solutions with Minecraft: Education Edition.
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3. Usage of MindFuel's free digital K-12 educational resources doubles over past week
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Despite temporary school closures and classroom disruptions, that hasn't stopped Canadian students from prioritizing their learning. Last week, MindFuel announced that it would be offering all of its online K-12 STEM educational resources at no cost to all Canadians. Since making these valuable resources accessible for free, MindFuel is supporting between 3,500 -10,000 teachers, parents and students each day. |
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4. Let's Talk Science and COVID-19
Let'sTalkScience: March 31, 2020
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For more than 25 years Let’s Talk Science has been uniquely positioned as a valued and trusted education partner across Canada. Let’s Talk Science is rooted in the belief that Canadian youth require strong STEM-based skills and knowledge for their future success. The COVID-19 crisis underscores the critical need for our work as science literacy and STEM skills underpin the global response. |
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5. A handy 'How to' Use Zoom Videoconferencing guide to Teach Online Effectively
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ContactNorth: April 1, 2020 |
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Teaching with videoconferencing just got easier because of Zoom. Gone are the days of frozen screens, dropped connections, echoes, jagged videos, and time lags. Zoom can be used for lectures, student presentations, discussions, student polls, virtual office hours, or a place to meet with students. What’s more, there’s no need to train students to use Zoom. They just click on a link and they’re in your class after being prompted to download a small app. No Zoom account is required for students. And, if students happen to arrive early, Zoom can allow them to join without you being present. If you want to know how to get started with Zoom and learn about some of its advanced features, read on.
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6. "Supporting Parents in Remote Learning"
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Parents are their child’s first teacher. In the “school from home” environment, what might we do to support parents and teachers who are now partnering virtually? Are you a teacher with school-aged children at home? Are you teaching your class(es) while your own children attend remote school? Join us to understand the challenges and hear about tips, tricks, and solutions to teaching while parenting and parenting while teaching.
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7. Universities Canada and Partner Launch Cognit.ca a tool researchers, businesses, hospitals and governments to collaborate and tackle the world's most pressing challenges—including finding urgent and innovative solutions to #COVID19
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Thrive Global: March 17, 2020 |
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Cognit.ca is a tool for businesses, non-profits, governments and others who want to access the experts, facilities and/or intellectual property that exists on campuses across Canada. Cognit.ca does this by analyzing over 200,000 research projects, hundreds of facilities and more than ten of thousand of pieces of IP to identify the most relevant institutions, researchers, facilities and licensing opportunities for a given search term.
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The program, based at UNESCO’s hub in Paris, is itself just days old.
Announced on March 26 by UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay, the program is based in the organization’s estimate that more than 1.5 billion “learners”—meant to include students of all kinds and ages—are being impacted by the coronavirus COVID-19’s spread to as many as 172 countries.
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9. B.C. is taking steps to keep kids learning during in response to #COVID19 with a detailed plan
B.C.MoE: March 27, 2020
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New guidelines for school leaders and a new website are being introduced to support B.C.’s K-12 students while in-class education is suspended to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“This is a challenging time for families in B.C. as we work together to stop the spread of COVID-19, but it is vital students have a sense of routine and continued opportunities to learn while they are at home,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Education. “These guidelines will ensure the needs, health and safety of students are put first as school leaders actively plan to serve the unique needs of their communities.”
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10. Coronavirus: Kitchener educational tech company now making protective equipment for health care workers
GlobalNews: March 23, 2020
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Jeremy Hedges started a technology company called INKSmith four years ago selling educational toys for design thinking and coding to schools.
He said he never imagined he would be using that equipment to manufacture personal protective equipment for health care workers in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic.
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