Ontario Research & Innovation Optical Network Archives | Research & Innovation

ABEL Summer Institute mobilizes new technology, best practices and partnerships to transform classroom learning

fmaquito — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

The Advanced Broadband Enabled Learning (ABEL) program has wrapped up another successful ABEL Summer Institute (ASI). The theme of the ninth annual ASI, which took place at 91��ɫ from Aug. 23 to 25, was Creating the Future Now. The event welcomed some 200 delegates from across Ontario and Canada.

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: Anita Townsend (left), Simcoe County District School Board's principal of curriculum services, and Anita Drossis, a teacher at Vaughan Secondary School, 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, “How Informal Learning Networks Can Transform Education”, 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’s ASI sponsors included Microsoft Canada, Polycom, Apple, the Ontario Research & Innovation Optical Network, Pearson Education Canada, Duplicom Presentation Systems, Mindshare Learning, Ontario’s Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, 91��ɫ, the 91��ɫ Region District School Board, Turning Technologies Canada and Sobeys.

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

Founded in 2002, ABEL is led and funded by the Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation at 91��ɫ and the 91��ɫ 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– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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91��ɫ researchers receive $10 million in funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

fmaquito — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Researchers, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at 91��ɫ have been awarded over $10 million from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). The grants, part of $190.5 million in funding and awards invested across the country, will support over 220 innovative 91��ɫ research projects to improve Canadians’ quality of life while addressing important socio-cultural and economic issues.

“SSHRC’s investment in humanities and social sciences research allows our scholars to substantially contribute to Canada’s knowledge base, to culture and to quality of life,” said Stan Shapson (right), 91��ɫ’s vice-president research & innovation. “This basic research helps us to better understand the world while responding to the pressing social issues of our time.”

Forty-seven 91��ɫ faculty members received $4.4 million to fund their research projects through ’s Standard Research Grants program. 91��ɫ also received over $560,000 to support 17 projects funded through the:

Research Development Initiatives competition
Image, Text, Sound and Technology competition
International Opportunities Fund
Aid to Research Workshop competition

Graduate students and doctoral fellows also benefited from the announcements: 148 91��ɫ master’s and doctoral students have won over $5 million in scholarships and fellowships. More than 2,000 graduate and postdoctoral projects across Canada received funding.

Reflecting knowledge mobilization’s status as a core SSHRC priority, the competition also included special calls for Public Outreach Grants that support existing and ongoing projects that mobilize research results to a range of audiences beyond academia. Nine 91��ɫ projects were funded, securing over $1 million for the University.

In this category, 91��ɫ researchers enjoyed a 67 per cent success rate; in comparison, 2009 SSHRC applicants averaged a success rate of 33 per cent across all categories.

Through the Public Outreach Grants, 91��ɫ researchers will:

Make literary research available to a broader community of researchers, students, teachers and educators, and policy makers in a sustainable way through the (ORION).
Empower young mothers by exploring what they need to achieve economic, social, familial and personal wellness and prosperity.
Share research conducted with marginalized youth with educators, community organizations and other stakeholders to help them understand the alienation and disengagement new migrants and ethno-racial minority youth experience as their families move from Toronto’s inner city and inner-suburban neighbourhoods to the outer suburbs, such as Peel, Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, Ajax and Pickering.
Enhance microcredit program success for economic development through social performance ratings by making the information accessible and designing program evaluation instruments.
Share new scholarship on the immigration of African American refugees from slavery to Canada with educators, community groups, libraries and government agencies, among others.
Mobilize knowledge on the political economy of women’s rights—specifically, connections among macroeconomic policy, public policies that impact the paid and unpaid work of women, and women’s access to human rights—to local human rights organizations that focus on women.
Provide experts in performance making, theatre design and green technology with a three-day opportunity to share practices, approaches and technological innovations.
Mobilize the Aboriginal peoples of Canada’s disparate experiences with and knowledge of conservation by bringing together Aboriginal community representatives, academics, policy-makers, and conservation practitioners.
Inform climate change policy and practice by making climate change research and evidence available to policy partners in four GTA municipalities (, , and ), and the .

“These awards also build upon 91��ɫ’s amazing success earlier this year in SSHRC’s large-scale collaborative competitions,” said Shapson. “91��ɫ received $6 million through SSHRC’s Major Collaborative Research Initiatives (MCRI) and Community-University Research Alliances (CURA) programs. Professors Roger Keil, Pat Armstrong and Carla Lipsig-Mumme are already collaborating with their international research teams to study global suburbanisms, long-term residential healthcare, and work in a warming world.”

“Their work, coupled with the projects funded through this announcement, addresses key social issues facing Canadian society while demonstrating our leadership in creating and sharing new knowledge across the social sciences and humanities.”

“Our government continues to invest in world-class research to improve Canadians’ quality of life and increase the supply of highly qualified graduates that Canada needs to be successful,” said the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry. “The social sciences and humanities show us how to harness and interpret innovation from a human perspective, which translates into benefits for society.”

has posted a complete list of funded projects on their website.

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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ABEL Summer Institute unites teachers and techonology in August

fmaquito — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Interactive technologies have revolutionized how we communicate, collaborate and generate ideas and knowledge. How do these changes affect classrooms? How do teachers stay ahead of the curve, and at the same time prepare students for the future?

These questions and more will be explored in the ninth annual 2010 Summer Institute (ASI 2010) Aug. 23 to 25 at 91��ɫ'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 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 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 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 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’s 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 are , , , the , , , , and .

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

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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