Online learning is becoming the way of the future and Katie Pellerin, grade 8 teacher at Riverside Public School, has a passion for setting children up for success in the 21st century by embracing modern technology.
When Pellerin was presented with the opportunity to have her classroom of 28 children participate in a digital learning pilot program titled Edwin, short for ‘educational win’, she was ecstatic to be involved.
Edwin was created by Nelson, Canada’s leading educational publisher, as an alternative to their textbooks which are primarily used in schools around Canada.
Nelson defines Edwin like this: “A learning eco-system that puts a tablet device into the hands of each student. Pre-loaded with an application that combines education content with industry leading technology to become the future of classroom learning.”
“Technology is a tool used to embrace creativity and innovation. It absolutely encourages a love of learning.”Riverside grade 8 teacher Katie Pellerin
In less than a year, Edwin went from just an idea to being fully integrated into a classroom.
“As each student is given their own tablet, they are part of a ‘one-to-one set up’,” said Pellerin. “It’s difficult for teachers to teach when only a few kids have the technology. The app works both with and without internet, allowing children access it at anytime.”
The students’ tablet links to Google Classroom and goes to each lesson with them.
“Edwin is important for students because it helps them learn at their own pace,” said grade 8 student Kevin Walsh.
Not only have the kids been interviewed by a Californian camera crew in order to document their experience with Edwin, but two students were chosen to attend the ERDI (Education Research and Development and Innovation) conference in Kelowna, BC in April.
The spots were determined by auditions at Riverside and chosen by vote from their peers as well as the staff. The auditions were based on a multimedia presentation in which students discussed the following two questions:
1. What was your Edwin journey?
2. How has learning changed in the 21st century?
The students chosen to travel to the conference in BC are Kevin Walsh and Braunwyn Clement. Both are advocates of the program and were delighted to be chosen as the Edwin representatives from their classroom.
“The Edwin device helps me grow as an individual learner in the 21st century, it helps all students strive for success,” said Clement.
“Edwin has improved my technological abilities and has made learning easier,” said Walsh.
Various companies such as Nelson will present their pilot programs to the ERDI before introducing them into schools.
Clement and Walsh, along with Pellerin, Larry Hope (director of the TLDSB school board) and Dave Golden (superintendant), will fly to BC for three days in order to speak about their journey with Edwin.
Pellerin believes that each student has matured both emotionally and educationally from being a part of the Edwin program.
Both the staff and students can’t wait for what not only the conference holds, but the future of learning in Canada.
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This sounds interesting, but what was the class actually learning? What was the content? Is it being used in some subject areas and not others? You get the feeling from the article that it’s all about the technology and that what they’re learning isn’t the point.
So Sad. Does this mean even less person to person contact? Kids are already spending too much time on i phones , tablets outside of school , now even more in school! How do parents of today`s students feel about this?