Continuing blogging from the CANeLearn 2014: Ontario Summer Summit here in Toronto, which is thematically entitled “Blended and Online Learning in Canada: State of the Nation.” The third session was described as:
Themed/Moderated Discussion
- Group roundtable discussion on emergent topics from morning session
- What can a national network (CANeLearn) do for you to support K-12 blended and online learning in your school/district/province?
Essentially, the room was divided into six different tables where were discussed at the table some of the issues that came out of the panel discussion this morning – and what the potential national network (i.e., CANeLearn) can do to address the needs of the folks in the room. Based on Randy’s distillation of what has come up in the online registration information, previous CANeLearn meetings, and today’s sessions thus far, we generated some initial topics:
- Content
- Open
- Research (shared stories)
- Social media
- Professional learning
- Time – to collaborate, network, etc. (Relationships)
- Accessibility
- Assessment
- Structures/Policies
- Professional development
- Language
- BYOD/Privacy/Digital Divide
We prioritized the top six – as we had six tables in the room – research, content, open, assessment, BYOD, and professional development.
Personally, I sat at the research table and we had a lively discussion. We actually settled on expanding the topic to research and evaluation – and discussed everything from the differences between research and evaluation to the availability of program evaluations from K-12 online learning programs themselves to the availability of research (or knowledge of it) to formalizing and publicizing teacher action research.
In terms of CANeLearn, we thought that the network could help facilitate evaluation and research projects – and have those contracts run through the network; identifying, documenting, and communicating research; advocating for better data collection and responsiveness from programs and departments; and providing opportunities for those interested in doing research.
I’ll ask that folks who may have been at the other tables to post what they talked about in the comments area. I should note that the “Open” table posted their notes as a Google Doc at https://docs.google.com/document/d/11IiyUq7IWeeR3HlMrJKaegwUSKyshboyaI9SroQgB8w/