The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Brush up on your research

The Alberta Teachers’ Association has a collection of research briefs that provide an overview of academic research on a number of important issues in education. Each brief includes background information, key strategic considerations, reference sources and recommendations for further reading. Related talking points are also available for ATA members.

Available on the ATA website, this collection currently contains briefs on the following topics:

• student mental wellness
• artificial intelligence and automation
• class size and composition matter
• the efficacy of full-day kindergarten

To view these briefs, visit www.teachers.ab.ca > Public Education > Education Research > Research Briefs

New publication celebrates Indigenous language

The latest release in the ATA’s Stepping Stones series is entitled Indigenous Language Diversity and Revitalization.

Along with a summary of the different languages that have been spoken in Canada for thousands of years, the document outlines that Indigenous languages are at risk of extinction and the efforts that are underway to revitalize them.

The Stepping Stones series consists of 13 documents, with several still in development. They’re part of the ATA’s Walking Together project, which strives to connect Alberta’s teachers with the First Nations, Métis and Inuit knowledge required as part of the new Teaching Quality Standard.

Downloadable PDF versions of the Stepping Stones summaries, as well as a full list of Indigenous education professional development materials, are available to teachers on the ATA website at www.teachers.ab.ca > My ATA > Professional Development > Indigenous Education and Walking Together.

Digital resources support inquiry

The Online Reference Centre (ORC) is a collection of $1.4 million worth of resources that can be accessed through LearnAlberta.ca. The ORC makes it easier than ever for teachers to incorporate digital resources that support inquiry-based research and information literacy skills into their curriculum planning.

ORC resources support all grades from K–12 and cover a wide variety of subject areas including mathematics, sciences, computer sciences, human geography, psychology and art. Materials are also applicable for students in IB and AP programs and for those learning in a language other than English.

Using the ORC will not only support inquiry projects, it will also teach your students necessary information literacy skills by providing them with high-quality, professionally vetted, curricular aligned resources—and the benefits do not stop there! Interactive features such as text-to-speech, text translation, text highlighting, text prediction and embedded dictionaries/thesauruses level the playing field for classrooms of diverse learners. Many of the ORC resources allow students to share articles through social media, subscribe to RSS feeds and download articles to MP3.

To help teachers learn about the features and benefits of the resources, the ORC has developed a robust website that provides just-in-time support for teachers (www.onlinereferencecentre.ca).

Sustainability project to tour Alberta schools

The 3% Project is a sustainability project that mobilizes one million Canadian youth (three per cent of Canada) through five national tours across 600 schools. It provides youth-friendly and holistic education on climate change and empowers youth to take action today on solving climate change in their local communities. The project is targeted towards students in grades 8 to 12, is free of charge to schools, and involves a school assembly, workshop and mentorship program.

The project’s on-the-road team will be returning to Alberta in September. Information on booking a session is available from the Foundation for Environmental Stewardship (FES) at www.fesplanet.org.