Teachers at Rocky View Schools (RVS) will soon be able to teach each other the best new learning methods, thanks to the Collaborative Online Resource Environment (CORE).
“We collaborate with the other boards all the time, but not on this level,” said RVS Associate Superintendent of Learning Dave Morris.
“This is cutting edge, it has the potential to be rolled out to the entire province.”
CORE is a joint partnership between RVS, the Calgary Board of Education, Calgary Catholic School District, Golden Hills School Division and Canadian Rockies Public Schools. It will allow teachers to access 21st century resources — including digital books, newspapers, audio, video and educational games — online and incorporate the resources into lesson plans. Morris said RVS would also save money because the five boards will have unified access to the same electronic resource licences.
CORE will also allow teachers from each board to post their detailed lesson plans online with the digital resources they used included. The tool will gove instructors at RVS a chance to see what other teachers in Alberta have found works best for teaching curriculum.
“A lot of our teachers are working on blended learning environments,” said Morris.
“Using a program called Moodle, they set up their entire course online. Now, we can find those really good courses from teachers in all five districts.”
Morris said CORE will eventually allow students at RVS to access a vast database of digital resources, and that the Calgary Board of Education has been a helpful ally in getting the project off the ground.
“The Calgary Board of Education director of technology and innovation has been the guy really pulling these resources together,” said Morris.
“I think we were invited into this partnership because we have already been working with these learning environments for some time.”
Morris said RVS has been aggressively pursuing the best ways for the board to get access for its students to the newest learning technologies, and CORE is just another step towards making classrooms in Alberta state-of-the-art.
“I think we’re in a really good position to utilize 21st century classrooms,” he said.
“(CORE) has got huge potential and power.”
