“The expansion of the Mitacs research internship program gives students at our colleges and polytechnics the chance to gain the hands-on skills they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow. Through these new research internships, students will be able to learn on the job while contributing new ideas that will help Canada’s businesses move discoveries and innovations from our labs to the marketplace.”

Dean Vendramin has had a variety of teaching experiences over his 22-year teaching career. Currently, he is a Math/Science Education Leader at Archbishop M.C. O’Neill Catholic High School in Regina, Saskatchewan. He is passionate about technology integration, assessment practices, and most importantly building positive relationships with his students. Dean has been recognized for his work throughout his career, having received among other awards a Certificate of Achievement from Prime Minister’s Teaching Excellence Award, and is proud and honoured to have been selected in a variety of prestigious educational technology teaching programs. He is passionate about improving his craft, sharing ideas, and supporting the needs of those he serves. You can follow him on Twitter at @vendi55, or check out his blog and eportfolio at deanvendramin.weebly.com.

Ontario Delivering New Postsecondary Campus in Milton
Government of Ontario Newsroom - April 18th, 2018

New podcast episode: What we can learn from classrooms in the world’s top-performing education systems
OECD Education - May 3rd, 2018

Canadian Provinces release the latest results on the performance of Grade 8 students in Reading, Math and Science
PCAP - April 30th, 2018

Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Zach Churchill presented the inaugural Minister’s Entrepreneurship Award of Excellence yesterday after students pitched their business ideas to a judging panel
NS Education - April 26th, 2018

Can students learn history with the video game
Assassin's Creed?
Cision - May 3rd, 2018

SMART Technologies and The Conrad Foundation Join Forces to Recognize Students Solving Global Education Challenges
Cision - May 3rd, 2018

U of T and Autodesk researchers design 2D-3D software for augmented reality drawing
University of Toronto - April 20th, 2018

How Teachers Use Interactive Technology
Big Deal Media - May 4th, 2018

STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math – a term that is becoming ever more prevalent in our everyday dialogue when it comes to education and the futures of our current students. Why is STEM education so important? By 2020, there could be a shortage of 500,000 digital workers, yet less than one in three of the current ICT workforce is female. It’s a gap we must address, and encouraging girls to engage in STEM subjects has never been more important.

There are many ‘reasons’ research points to that likely contribute to the lack of females in STEM subjects. Microsoft US research notes that interest and confidence of females in STEM subjects drops as they grow older, that there is misperception of what STEM careers are really like in the real world, and that there is a lack of female role models in STEM.

There is no one way to encourage girls to explore STEM subjects, but there is a clear connection when encouragement and positive reinforcement is provided, especially by parents. There are numerous avenues and resources available. With numerous groups and after-school clubs taking place across the country and within schools and free online resources – anyone can take part!

Microsoft has many of free tools to get all teachers and students started in changing the face of STEM!

• Take part in an Hour of Code with the Minecraft Agent – no experience required!

• Teachers can connect with peers from around the world and explore hundreds of courses and lesson plans on a variety of STEM topics with the Microsoft Educator Community!

• Learn to code with Make:Code.com! Microsoft MakeCode brings computer science to life for all students with fun projects, immediate results, and both block and text editors for learners at different levels.

Looking for more? We have some exciting news! You can now sign up to be a micro:bit tester! The MakeCode team has created a new Windows 10 MakeCode for micro:bit app, and we need innovative educators like yourself to try it out before we release it to the rest of the world! It's currently in beta version, so if trying something new sounds like fun, sign-up now at microbit.org/testing/.

Read more about how you can help change the face of STEM on the Education Blog.

It was a great honour to host Minister Mitzie Hunter recently at the MindShare Workspace. She is so polished and refined. Quite frankly, if MInister Hunter was at the helm of the LIberal leadrship in Ontario, they might stand a stronger chance at being re-elected.

Attending the 50th anniversary of Darcy McGee Catholic School was a highlight of this past weekend. For the record, it has not been 50 years since I graduated! Althought, it’s not far off! Connecting with friends, former teachers and administrators reflecting on championships won, memorable academic moments and my winning the grade 8 pie eating contest and a class trip to Terra Cotta was definitely one of the highlights!

That said, meeting up with principal Mr. Melady, teacher, Mr. Cassidy and Mr. Whitham, brought back fond memories and a bond that was quickly reignited.

Celebrating 50 years Darcy McGee, proud alumni Robert Martellacci, President, C21 Canada, MindShare Learning connects with C21CEO Academy board member,  Rory McGuckin, Director, TCDSB fellow alums & past admin

We welcome your comments, news stories and upcoming events!

Until next time keep the digital learning curve steep! R.M.

EdTech and Teachers
Unisus International School, Summerland, BC, CA

Professional Learning Math Consultant - Secondary Mathematics
Discovery Education, Toronto, ON, CA

Cooperative Education Coordinator
British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby, BC, CA

Contact us to learn more about posting your own career opportunity.

Fesitival of Learning 2018
May 28 - 30, 2018

Ecno 2018
June 3 - 5, 2018

ISTE 2018
June 24 - 27, 2018