On Saturday, I posted a list of Research Sessions At The Virtual School Symposium. As the main sessions are beginning later today, and since there are at least 60 folks from Canadian programs here this week, I wanted to provide a list of sessions at the annual Virtual School Symposium from Canadian programs or focused on Canadian content.
Monday, November 15, 2010 – Conference Day 1
9:30 – 10:30 am Breakout Session #1
Fusion Education – How one online school creates blended school experiences for students (Cascade G)
Clint Surry, South Island Distance Education School
Karen Flello, South Island Distance Education School
Kim Lemieux, South Island Distance Education School
From its humble beginnings as a K – 12 Distance Education (Correspondence) school in the 70s, SIDES has evolved into a Distributed Learning powerhouse that has been cited as a benchmark against which other DL schools in British Columbia (Canada) gauge their success. We will present our school’s rich history and the challenges we have faced establishing credibility and status as a bona fide school, and look at the methods we have used to create rewarding partnerships with neighbourhood schools.10:45 – 11:45 am Breakout Session #2
State of the Nation: K-12 online learning in Canada (Cascade A)
Michael Barbour, Wayne State University
This panel will examine the state of K-12 online learning in Canada based on the 2010 edition of this on-going report. More specifically the panel will describe the policies that govern and the level of activity of virtual schooling in all thirteen provinces and territories. The panel will also discuss the various models that have developed and are currently in use across the country. Finally, the panel will outline some of the many issues that are still facing K-12 online learning in Canada.4:45 – 5:45 pm Breakout Session #5
21st Century and Beyond: Taking An Online Program to the Next Level (Cascade F)
Jordan Kleckner, eSchoolBC in School District #23, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Keely Switzer, eSchoolBC in School District #23, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Growing an online program isn’t easy. eSchoolBC in Kelowna, Canada set out to revolutionize their online programs to meet the needs of 21st century learners. Hear about the successes, the challenges, and take away some of the invaluable resources they used to create an engaging, exciting online learning environment that the students look forward to logging on to every day.