What's New - September 2006

Resources to Assist New Teachers

Web-based Teaching and Learning Resources Available from Alberta Education

Alberta Education, Curriculum and Learning and Teaching Resources
© 2006 Government of Alberta
http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/

Alberta Education works with stakeholders to design curriculum and provide authorized resources. The Department also produces several curriculum support resources and guiding documents related to education policy and legislation. Some of these key resources and their URLs have been itemized below.

• Alberta programs of studies and related documents for core, optional and cross-curricular programs can be found at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bySubject/.
• Curriculum handbooks and curriculum summaries prepared for parents are available at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/parents/handbooks/.
• The Guide to Education 2006-2007 can be viewed at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/educationguide/. The Guide was developed to assist in the implementation of the objectives and underlying principles of the School Act. Policies, procedures and organizational information required to operate schools are included. Educators in Francophone schools are referred to the Guide de l'éducation, Manuel de la maternelle à la 12^e année.
• Information about current Alberta Education initiatives, projects, and reviews (e.g., High School Completion Consultation, Alberta Initiative for School Improvement) can be accessed at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/ipr/.
• For up-to-date information about curriculum and resources as well as provincial testing, special programs, Aboriginal education, technology integration, career initiatives, the Learning Resources Centre and more, subscribe to the online newsletter entitled Connection: Information for Teachers by entering your e-mail address at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/connection/subscribe.asp?language=e. This newsletter is released three times per year (i.e., January, May, and October). In the current issue (May 2006) you will find information about: Read&Write GOLD, an assistive technology for students who need help with their reading, writing and studying; the Aboriginal Learner Data Collection Initiative; the Regional Leads Network, a leadership and support effort for video-conferencing and SuperNet-enabled learning being administered by The 2learn.ca Education Society; and much more.

Visit the Alberta Education web site (http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/) for further information.

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Alberta Learning Information System (ALIS)
© 2006 Government of Alberta
http://www.alis.gov.ab.ca

Alberta Learning Information Service (ALIS) is the provincial gateway for career, learning and employment information and services in Alberta. The site is provided through a provincial government partnership of Alberta Human Resources and Employment, Alberta Education, and Alberta Advanced Education.

The ALIS website provides information to help students with career planning, post-secondary education and training, educational funding, job search, labour market trends, and workplace issues. As such, this site would be of particular interest to teachers involved in Career and Technology Studies (CTS) programs, work experience programs, and to counselors providing high school transitions and career planning advice.

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LearnAlberta.ca
© 2006 Government of Alberta
http://www.learnalberta.ca

LearnAlberta.ca is a repository of English and Français resources developed by Alberta Education in consultation with stakeholders. These online multimedia resources are designed for the Kindergarten to Grade 12 community in Alberta and are correlated to the Alberta programs of studies. Download and print the latest version of the resource overview sheet (http://learnalberta.ca/Overview/LearnAlberta_Overview.pdf) for a listing of all resources currently available on LearnAlberta.ca.

You may "login as a guest" to see a sampling of the available resources. Or, to view and use all of the resources, login as an authorized user with the userID and password provided to you by your principal or school/division jurisdiction technology contact or university program head. (Note: information about authorized users and how to obtain a userID and password are included in the resource overview sheet described above.)

A simple keyword or grade level search of LearnAlberta.ca will help you zero in on the resources you are seeking. Together with your students, explore the National Geographic Science Centre, the Online Reference Centre, or the Social Studies Online Guide to Implementation. Help your students construct their understanding of scientific or mathematical concepts by having them manipulate various factors in a simulation (e.g., simulate the refraction of light through a prism and explore refractive index). Listen to and watch a Cree Elder talk about her work with Aboriginal youth. Take a virtual tour of the Alberta Legislature. Learn a little German or Spanish.

Multimedia resources like these are continuously being added to the site. For more information about LearnAlberta.ca, check out the FAQs at http://learnalberta.ca/Browse.aspx?View=FAQ. To stay up-to-date with new resources as they are added to the site, consider signing up to receive e-mail notification via the LearnAlberta.ca Update at http://learnalberta.ca/Browse.aspx?View=Updates.

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Learning Resources Centre
© 2006 Government of Alberta
http://www.lrc.education.gov.ab.ca/pro/default.html

The Learning Resources Centre, a branch of Alberta Education, provides a comprehensive range of learning and teaching resources via its online ordering system which is available 24 hours a day. A search of the LRC catalogue reveals: 1. authorized resources that support the Kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum; 2. general learning resources such as maps, atlases, and dictionaries; 3. distance education materials and textbooks; 4. audio format resources for students with perceptual disabilities; and 5. specialized equipment and resources for loan to Alberta students with visual impairments.

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Tools4Teachers
© 2006 Government of Alberta
http://www.tools4teachers.ab.ca/t4t/

Tools4Teachers offers access to authorized distance learning resources and digital learning objects that are based on the print resources produced by Alberta Education (Learning Technologies Branch). Resources are organized by subject, grade, course, and specific learning outcome. It is a secure web site that requires a userID and password to login. Certified teachers must first complete an online application form. Once the submitted information has been verified, userIDs and passwords are issued via e-mail. For more information about Tools4Teachers, see the FAQs at http://www.tools4teachers.ab.ca/t4t/faq.html.

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Other Web-based Teaching and Learning Resources

www.2Learn.ca
The 2learn.ca Education Society
http://www.2learn.ca/

The 2learn.ca Education Society, a not-for-profit organization, in alliance with Alberta Education, the Alberta Teachers' Association, the University of Alberta, Faculty of Education, the College of Alberta School Superintendents and TELUS provides a broad range of teaching and learning resources and services. "The mission of the 2Learn.ca Education Society is to initiate, advocate and share with educators technology-enriched teaching, learning and leadership options of tomorrow, empowered by unique alliances with educational and community partners." The 2learn.ca web site offers the following:

• support for the implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) outcomes,
• a Project Centre to support tele-collaborative learning projects,
• resources to support teachers in their use of tools including word processors, spreadsheets, multimedia, web development, databases, video conferencing and assistive technologies,
• an e-mail news service called Vantage that offers updates, articles and curriculum links (signup at http://www.2learn.ca/mainregistration/default.html),
• tech tips, search tips, Alberta programs of studies summaries, annotated web links, K-12 subject-specific e-zines, a freely accessible reference collection, and much more, and
• a 'My Desktop' tool that allows teachers to create resources and store them at 2learn.ca.

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Council on Alberta Teaching Standards
http://www.teachingquality.ab.ca

Although the purpose of the COATS web site is to provide information and resources related to the Teaching Quality Standard, their monthly series of What's New items (see archives at http://www.teachingquality.ab.ca/WhatsNew/archive.html) provides valuable links to teaching and learning resources and related information that may be of interest to new and veteran teachers alike. Some recent themes include: Safety in the Science and CTS Classroom; Inquiry-based Learning Best Practices; Video-conferencing in the Classroom.

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Web-Based Teaching and Learning Resources Available via Alberta School and/or School Division Web Sites

A few Alberta schools and school divisions offer web-based collections of annotated teaching and learning resources, some of which are freely available to all users of the Web. For example, see the Grande Yellowhead Regional Division teacher-reviewed and annotated educational links at http://esc.gyrd.ab.ca/Edlinks/ or Rocky View School Division's AlbertaLaunchPad at http://www.albertalaunchpad.com/, a developing site that offers links reviewed by a team of teachers and organized according to Alberta's curricula.

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE), together with the Glenbow Museum and the University of Calgary produced the Mavericks web site (http://www.glenbow.org/mavericks/index.htm) which offers over 700 artifacts, historic photographs, documents and maps as well as project plans and classroom ideas to help teachers and students explore Alberta's story. CBE also offers additional resources through secure (password-protected) areas of its web site (see http://www.cbe.ab.ca/resources/).

Edmonton Public Schools offers a site called schoolZONE ( https://schoolzone.epsb.ca/uPortal/render.userLayoutRootNode.uP) to its school community. This is a password protected area that offers resources as well as other services to students, parents and teachers.

Check with your local school or school authority to find out what is available in your school community.

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General Web-based Teaching and Learning Resources

Of course, the Web offers many other valuable educational resources on sites like NASA for Educators (http://www.nasa.gov/home/), the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (http://www.mnh.si.edu/), the CBC Archives (http://archives.cbc.ca/295p.asp?IDLan=1&IDMenu =-4), the National Film Board (http://www.nfb.ca/) and so on. However, these sites are too numerous to mention here. The key is to find the "gems" and ensure that the content addresses learning outcomes from Alberta's programs of studies. For help in finding and evaluating additional web-based teaching and learning resources with your students, see The Media Awareness Network at http://www.media-awareness.ca/.

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