THE NETWORK OF INNOVATIVE SCHOOLS
"PROJECT OVERVIEW"

[Our Proposal] [Science/Technology] [Electronic Portfolios] [Videoconferencing] [Research]

[Young Scientists' Days] [Innovation in Canadian Schools -Discussion Forum] [Earl Grey's Homepage]

In 1999, Earl Grey School was chosen as one of only 24 schools from across Canada to take part in the Network of Innovative Schools project.    During the last three years, this network, commonly referred to as NIS, has grown to include over 85 schools from across Canada with representation in each of the provinces and territories. 

During the three years that we have been involved in this project, we have had some amazing opportunities afforded us as a result of our participation.  In 1999, three of our staff members attended the first NIS Institute in Montreal where we met and worked with the teams from the other 23 schools who were also chosen to take part in this project.  In 2000, an additional 30 schools were added to the network and four of our staff  members along with our District Technology Support Teacher attended the second NIS Institute that took place in Ottawa.  In 2001, another 35+ schools were added to the network and once again we had the opportunity to attend the third NIS Institute in Missisagua.  We were joined by approximately 30 educators from Holland who are part of a similar network in Europe.  The NIS project has allowed us to network with educators from across Canada, the US and Europe and to establish many relationships with a number of schools in a variety of forms.  We have taken part in numerous professional development opportunities, have received financial assistance to allow our innovative work in ICT to continue, have presented a number of workshops to other educators, have formed mentoring relationships with other schools in Winnipeg and across Canada, and have worked with both member and non-member schools in Canada and the US to design and implement a number of innovative projects. Our students have also had numerous opportunities to showcase their work and their talents by presenting at events such as the Conference Board of Canada's Annual Conference.  In general, we feel our students have greatly benefitted from our involvement in this project and we would strongly encourage other schools to apply for membership. (We would be more than happy to help you write your proposal!)  We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the people at SchoolNet, especially Katherine Fredricks, Doug Walker, Sheri Brink, Marcel LaBelle, and Bill Belsey for their ongoing support and dedication to this project for the past three years.  We would also like to thank our fellow pioneer schools for their enthusiasm and determination in making the NIS a truly great network!

All of the goals contained in Earl Grey's original proposal have been met and we are currently expanding our technology program into new territory once again.  We have just begun to teach our students about video editing and are hoping to use this technology to create a series of instructional videos for our website.  The focus of these videos will be on how to use scientific probes and sensors and how this technology can be used to enhance the science curriculum.  Our video conferencing project with Ursala Franklin School in Toronto incorporates the use of our scientific probes and sensors.  Ursala Franklin school has the same equipment and through the use of this technology the students will measure air and water quality in their respective locations on an ongoing basis.  The students will meet via a series of video conferences to compare, contrast, and discuss their findings. 

Students at our grade 4/5/6 levels are currently involved in a videoconferencing project with Vernon River Consolidated School in Prince Edward Island.   The students will be developing newscasts for one another about their respective schools and provinces that they will be sharing via video conferencing.  A series of "getting acquainted" conferences have been scheduled for the second week of April and we are looking forward to having our students meet "face-to-face" for the first time.  Teachers from both schools have met in this forum on several occasions for the purposes of planning this project and to ensure that all the "bugs" have been worked out prior to student involvement. 

Students at our  grade 7 & 8 levels continue to work on electronic portfolios that encapsulate their learning this school year in a multimedia format . The students are using a number of sofware programs in this endeavour including PowerPoint, Word, Excel and a variety of software packages for video production and editing, imaging, and audio production.  In addition, the students use digital cameras, scanners, and videocameras.  The students portfolios will be reviewing their portfolios with their parents during our parent-teacher evening in April. 

A major component of our project has revolved around mentoring/sharing our knowledge with other educators and schools.  To date we have mentored a number of schools both in Winnipeg and across Canada in a variety of ways.   Members of our staff have worked with other educators to help design and create school websites, to teach software packages, such as Studion 7 video editing software, CuSeeMe video conferencing software and to teach how to use scientific sensors and probes.   At times, our mentoring activities have involved assisting other schools in the design of lab facilities and sharing our knowledge of integrating ICT into all curriculum areas.  Our mentoring activities have resulted in several long term and ongoing relationships with several schools and have often resulted in our schools working together collaboratively to design and implement curriculum based projects for our students

"Young Scientists' Days", an annual event held every March, continues to be a huge success and this year was no exception.  This event provides our junior high students the opportunity to conduct a series of science experiments for the younger members of our learning community.  Our scientific probes and sensors are used and the junior high students are responsible for conducting the experiments, encouraging the participation of their younger peers, and helping the younger students make real life connections with the scientific concepts that are being explored.  Parents, neighbouring schools, and members of our community are also invited to attend this event.  Video of this event is currently being edited and we are hoping to have it available on our website in the near future. 

The results of our technology surveys that were sent out to parents and to our teaching staff are now available.  Results from our student surveys will be posted in the near future.

09/17/2006