Teachers across Ontario and throughout Canada can now access exclusive, how-to webcasts on new and exciting online tools for teaching and learning, thanks to a new partnership between ORION and the award-winning Advanced Broadband Enabled Learning (ABEL) program.

There are lots of advanced technology tools out there to help school teachers enhance learning for their students. Showing teachers how to use these tools and make them a regular part of their teaching methodology is critical. How best to demonstrate the potentials of these tools than through the web itself?

Starting this month, ORION is partnering with York University's ABEL team to bring its 2009 webcast learning series to schools across Ontario and throughout Canada, providing free and open access to unique webcast streams and related teaching resources.

Targeting K-12 teachers, the ORION-ABEL Professional Learning Webcasts focus on a different educational tool each month, covering the basics of the tool and giving suggestions on how to implement it in the classroom to benefit student learning. Teachers who have used these educational tools share their experiences in the webcasts, some of which will be live and others taped and posted for downloading.

Previous webcasts and resources on Podcasting and on Moodle are already available. A new webcast on School-Wide Digital Literacy will be available on March 3. Another session on Smart Boards will be webcast in April, followed by a session on Digital Storytelling in May, and on Second Life in June.

The webcasts and resources will be available until March 2010 and can be accessed through the ABEL and ORION web sites.

ABEL's webcasts were previously available exclusively to the limited number of schools and teachers involved in the ABEL program. ORION has partnered with ABEL to make the webcasts and curriculum support materials available to all school boards in Ontario and across Canada in a joint outreach collaboration project.

"These professional learning webcasts are very popular with teachers as they provide them with easy to access, just-in-time instructional video that also present practical instructional strategies that engage students," says Janet Murphy, Director of ABEL. "ABEL uses this online video format to demonstrate effective classroom teaching strategies and consolidates professional learning with reflective activities or instructional implementation suggestions."

"These are great resources and we're excited about working with our ABEL partners to make them available to schools and teachers across Canada," said Phil Baker, ORION President and CEO. "They help illustrate the benefits of using interactive teaching and learning technologies in schools, while raising awareness of the importance of dedicated, advanced networks like ORION and CANARIE, Canada's advanced network organization, to deliver positive, measurable outcomes in teaching and learning."

Visit the ORION-ABEL Professional Learning Webcasts at www.abelearn.ca.