Summer 2008 Issue of Education Today

This site features selected articles written by staff of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association, and are copyright OPSBA. Copyright on articles by freelance writers remains with the author.

Web Links

Montreal-based Youth Friendly has created a Web site that is a real treasure for organizations that involve youth as active partners. Training in intergenerational practices is just one of the many resources it provides; users can also access other audio and visual resources. This site features a listing of non-profit groups across many disciplines, mostly Canadian, that successfully promote leadership among young people. Here users will find the Aboriginal Youth Council of the National Association of Friendship Centres (www.nafc-aboriginal.com) and the Institute on Governance (www.iog.ca). Young leaders will get some good advice from “9 Lessons for Influencing Policy Makers,” by Phillip Hard and Elder C. Marques, on the IOG site. Click on the Other Knowledge link found on the IOG home page under the Publications tab. Please note the video clip requires QuickTime 7.4 or higher.

In February, Waterloo’s Perimeter Institute, a Canadian organization devoted to global research in theoretical physics, launched an educational resource for high school science teachers. Endorsed by the president of the Ontario Association of Physics Teachers and by noted American physicist Vera Rubin, the learning modules are available online and hard copies are provided to teachers at no charge.

The institute also has a strong educational outreach mandate, and the Web site has easily accessed information on the wide range of activities, seminars and workshops offered to educators, students and the public. The Perimeter Institute was founded in 1999 by Mike Lazaridis, founder of Research in Motion, which developed and manufactures the BleckBerry.

In 1992, a group of Canadian educators and parents formed Environmental Earth Angels, a registered charity whose goal is to take action against environmental pollution. It provides specific programs that can be undertaken by school groups or communities, and all programs include an educational component related to the activity. The tree-planting program, for instance, includes a planning guide and study modules on biodiversity.

A new feature of the site is the Virtual Biodiversity page. Here, people from around the world are encouraged to post images of their environmental projects. Since this area was launched in November, the number of postings has steadily increased and they include projects from as far away as Southeast Asia.

Microsoft is reaching out to students with its DreamSpark student program. This global initiative will provide professional-level developing and design software at no charge to students in technology, design, science and math programs. Currently, the program is available only to post-secondary students in selected schools, but Microsoft has plans to extend it to high school students by fall 2008. To check for updates on availability, click on the Microsoft DreamSparks “stickie” at the top right of the home page. A keyword search on “high schools” will bring up the latest information.