The two-and-a-half-day professional learning event included keynote and spotlight presentations, hands-on training sessions and networking opportunities, focusing on implementing new technology tools and best practices in the classroom.

Right:聽Anita Townsend聽(left), Simcoe County District School聽Board's principal of curriculum services, and Anita Drossis, a teacher at Vaughan Secondary School,聽participated in the 2010 ABEL Summer Institute

A highlight on the first day was the keynote speech by Alec Couros, a professor of educational technology & media and coordinator of information & communications technologies at the University of Regina. His talk, 鈥淗ow Informal Learning Networks Can Transform Education鈥�, demonstrated how educators can embrace informal networks such as Twitter and Facebook, and looked at how our networked future is key to the reform of teaching and learning.

The conference also included talks from Garfield Gini-Newman, a lecturer at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, and Bill Muirhead, associate provost, academic, at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Both speakers had unique takes on how the rapidly changing technology landscape will affect the future of teaching and learning.

Left: ASI 2010 participants discuss the course material

The ABEL program launched its new Web site and online community at the conference, giving delegates the opportunity to continue discussions and stay connected online once professional learning and networking sessions had ended. Visit the new Web site.

Private and public sector sponsors make the ABEL Summer Institute possible. This year鈥檚 ASI sponsors included Microsoft Canada, Polycom, Apple, the Ontario Research & Innovation Optical Network, Pearson Education Canada, Duplicom Presentation Systems, Mindshare Learning, Ontario鈥檚 Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, 91亚色, the 91亚色 Region District School Board, Turning Technologies Canada聽and Sobeys.

For more information and to view the event agenda, visit the聽 Web site.

Founded in 2002, ABEL is led and funded by the Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation at 91亚色 and the 91亚色 Region District School Board. ABEL has established national and international credibility as a leading authority on new modes of teaching, training, learning and collaboration.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post ABEL Summer Institute mobilizes new technology, best practices and partnerships to transform classroom learning appeared first on Research & Innovation.

These questions and more聽will be聽explored in the ninth annual 2010 Summer Institute (ASI 2010) Aug. 23 to 25 at 91亚色's Keele campus.

This two-and-a-half-day professional learning event, with a theme of Creating the Future Now, will feature keynote speaker Alec Couros, professor of educational technology & media and coordinator of information & communications technologies at the University of Regina, as well as聽spotlight speakers Garfield Gini-Newman, a lecturer at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, and Bill Muirhead, associate provost, academic, at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT).

Right: Alec Couros

Couros has given聽many workshops and presentations, nationally and internationally, on topics such as openness in education, social/networked learning, instructional design, digital citizenship and critical media literacy.

Gini-Newman is working with schools and school districts across Canada, and聽in the United States and Caribbean, to embed critical thinking in teaching from kindergarten to graduation. He was a finalist for the Governor General's Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History and has been nominated for his work in the pre-service program at OISE.

Left: Garfield Gini-Newman

Muirhead is responsible for the design of聽UOIT's technology-enhanced learning and mobile learning programs, which provide laptop computers and academic software to all students and faculty at UOIT. With extensive experience in international research into online learning, as well as the application of information and communication technology in higher education, he has received many awards.

At this year鈥檚 ASI, delegates will investigate the role of the Internet and other interactive technologies for teaching and learning and for building and sustaining professional learning communities. In addition, the ASI will heighten awareness of how technological tools and resources enrich learning and increase overall engagement in both teaching and learning. One of the goals of the ASI is to expand opportunities for delegates to reflect as individuals, share as teams, shape new learning experiences and to benefit from ongoing professional learning.

Right: Bill Muirhead

ASI 2010 is intended as both a guided and self-directed exploration of 21st-century educational tools and knowledge-building approaches that will create the future for teaching and learning now, and prepare all learners for success. It provides an opportunity to meet face-to-face, exchange ideas and become inspired about experiences with, and the possibilities of, learning with technology.

The annual event also features presentations, group discussions and hands-on workshops to develop knowledge and ideas for the effective use of technology for teaching and learning.

Sponsors for ASI 2010聽are , , , the , , , , and .

For registration information and to view the event agenda, visit the Web site.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

The post ABEL Summer Institute unites teachers and techonology in August appeared first on Research & Innovation.

For more than 50 years, Prof. Durlak worked on applied research and development projects internationally. He introduced innovations ranging from hybrid corn in Costa Rica to agricultural television programs in Guatemala and connected intelligence in education in Maderia to聽 symmetrical broadband networks in Canada.

Right: Jerry Durlak

He also created and taught more than 20 courses at 91亚色 in the faculties of education and environmental studies, including courses in urban studies, communications studies and for the Graduate Program in Communications & Culture. Prof. Durlak was a faculty member in the Interactive Art & Entertainment Group in the Canadian Film Centre鈥檚 media lab and director of 91亚色鈥檚 Digital Media Lab.

From 1987 to 1990, he was the editor of Minds in Motion, a collaborative publication between 91亚色 and Apple Canada that explored leading edge software developments in Canada. Throughout his career, Prof. Durlak wrote extensively on interactive media, communication networks, new communication technologies, machine mediated learning, computer gaming and simulation, distance learning and urban design.

Prof. Durlak leaves his wife Reccia Mandelcorn and children Alex, Caitlin and Meagan Durlak and step-daughter Rachel Rosen.

A service of meditation and remembrance will take place tomorrow at 11am at The Simple Alternative, 275 Lesmill Road, Toronto. In lieu of flowers, Prof. Durlak鈥檚 family requests that memorial donations be made to聽.

Republished courtesy of YFile.

The post Professor Emeritus Jerome Durlak mentored many 91亚色 students appeared first on Research & Innovation.