APPLIED ACADEMICS NEWSWIRE
Volume # II No. 6
December 16, 1999
Helping educators to bring the real world into the classroom

In this Issue...

Are your students wondering what on earth they will do after high school? Do you need to get them some solid advice? Send them surfing to what could be the definitive career planning web resource.

The Curriculum Branch has recently launched a new web site for secondary students wanting extensive information about career planning and the transition to post-secondary education or work. A variety of self-assessment web resources guide students towards a perfect career fit. Links allow the user to explore the economic future and educational requirements of different occupations. Students can then investigate the admissions requirement to the needed to begin a future in their chosen profession.

A perfect tool for CAPP classes, this site presents all of the information needed to make informed career plans. Check it out at http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/careers/planning/

...back to top

Vancouver School Board's Templeton Secondary School is now "on air". Thanks to the technology of INSINC, the school's IT classes will soon be able to broadcast newscasts on the web. INSINC uses streaming to transform audio and video feed into a format that can then be broadcast live or delayed on the internet. As the first of three Vancouver district schools to be involved in this project, INSINC provided Templeton with the technological know-how and the required mentoring.

With a downloadable Real Player, you can hear the first broadcast at http://templeton.vsb.bc.ca. The Remembrance Day service gave the teachers an opportunity to test drive the "Virtual Media Centre", and get the feel for the technology. The significance of the accomplishment seems lost on most of the school body. "You know how students are," explains the IT12 teacher, Geoffrey Low. "By now the Remembrance Day service is old news, so they are not really impressed. It is the process that is interesting and important."

The future of this project is bright. Already, the broadcasting process pools the expertise of students from various different courses. Eventually, students from a planned TV Studio course will work with their peers from IT 11/12, graphic arts and other disciplines to produce regular news broadcasts. These will be aired to the world on the school's website.

...back to top

Teacher's College is taking a turn for the better for UBC Education students. This fall, they have been playing hooky and hanging out at various workplaces, in an effort to learn how what they will teach will be later used in the world of work. All of this is part of the AWAL program. Companies including BC Hydro, CPV Architects & Engineers, Chevron Canada, Environment Canada Atmospheric Weather Services, and RCMP Forensics opened their doors to let the education students see the skills used daily in their professions. One of the participants described her experience as an opportunity to learn the "practical application of the science we will be teaching, the nature of physics research and the importance of the essential skills which we take for granted (thinking skills, oral communication)." Ever tire of answering your student's cries of "when are we ever going to use this?" You need not return to teacher's college to experience AWAL. Call 1 877 293-CFAA and Go AWAL!!

...back to top

IT Forum Report Now on the Web

You can get a glimpse of the IT Forum Report by surfing to the CFAA website (http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/cfaa/forum.htm). Check it out!

Season's Greetings!

The staff at the Center for Applied Academics would like to extend to you seasonal greetings. May you and your family have a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year.

...back to top

5) CONTACT INFORMATION

APPLIED ACADEMICS NEWSWIRE is a service of the Center for Applied Academics.

Center for Applied Academics
Suite 702 - 555 Seymour Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6B 3H2 CANADA

Phone: 604/412.7634 Fax: 604/688.5924
Toll Free: 1 877 293-CFAA

Internet: www.bced.gov.bc.ca/cfaa
E-mail at cfaa0010@bcitvm.bcit.ca.

****NOTE EMAIL ADDRESS CHANGE****

Should you have questions about the CFAA list, please contact:
Bruce Deacon at cfaanews@islandnet.com

...back to top