The AMTEC History Project

Chris Crowley, University of British Columbia; Cindy Ives, Athabasca University; and Diane Janes, Thompson Rivers University

Track: Partnering with Faculty and administration/ Volet: Partenariat avec le corps professoral et l'administration

Type: One-hour Innovative Topic Discussion

The now defunct “AMTEC” (Association for Media and Technology in Education in Canada) was a non-profit, Canadian professional association supporting educators in the pedagogical use of media & educational technology to enhance teaching & learning from kindergarten to post-secondary education between 1973 and 2007. The key objective is to collect and preserve the history of educational technology in Canada by digitizing, protecting, centralizing and making accessible the collection of; print materials, e.g., newsletters, board minutes, conference materials; digital materials, e.g., CDs and archived websites; and through photography preserve artifacts such as pins, awards and even a quilt. The purpose is to support future research by educators, educational technologists, researchers, students and historians. The scope includes collecting and organizing materials currently distributed among former AMTEC members, related organizations and Library and Archives Canada. The project intends to produce a video interview series of 4-6 key original members who have the AMTEC institutional memory. The project will involve past AMTEC members from coast to coast to coast and will be promoted to the membership of the CNIE/RCIÉ.

Learning Objectives:

The main objective is to collect and preserve the history of educational technology in Canada by digitizing, protecting, centralizing and making accessible the collection and through photography preserve artifacts (see description for more details). To promote an awareness of AMTEC and to make the history of AMTEC more accessible by digitizing paper-based materials, collecting and reformatting older digital information from CDs, DVDs, etc., photographing artifacts and producing interviews of key AMTEC members, many of whom have been retired for many years. This content will be digitally stored in a central location and publicly accessible via a portal from the CNIE/RCIÉ website. As a kindergarten to post-secondary national professional Canadian organization for educators who pedagogically integrate educational technology, it is incumbent on the CNIE/RCIÉ to support initiatives to record and preserve the past and make it accessible to future generations of Canadian educators and researchers.

The Skills Gap, Attribute Development, and the Future of Work

Todd Harrison, Future Design School

Track: Learning architecture/ Volet: L’architecture de l’apprentissage 

Type: One-hour Innovative Topic Discussion

We are in the midst of a skills revolution: more and more employers and postsecondary institutions are actively seeking candidates who can demonstrate future ready attributes like critical thinking, empathy, and problem solving — and are shifting their recruitment and evaluation practices accordingly. As the skills gap continues to widen, the clear message emerging on a global level is that shifting to an attribute-based approach to education is an urgent and pressing concern — that there is literally no time to lose. This discussion will unpack the key, future ready attributes identified by top Canadian employers and the World Economic Forum, and prompt participants to share their successes and challenges in implementing an attribute-based approach to learning across their school communities.

Learning Objectives:

Through this topic discussion, participants will: - Understand the importance of supporting Canadian students as they develop key attributes - Assess the current state of attribute development and measurement in their learning community - Share successes and challenges with one another - Identify next steps that drive toward action