Summer school and BCSTA President makes the front page

BC students are rushing to sign up for free summer school this year. The effect of this wave of registrations on boards of education remains to be seen, says a Tuesday May 20 story published on the front page of the Vancouver Sun.  "Boards of education are currently in the midst of developing their budgets and I think there are some challenges," said BCSTA President Connie Denesiuk in an interview with Vancouver Sun education reporter Janet Steffenhagen.

Steffenhagen also covered the summer school story in her blog, questioning the cost of these free summer classes.

Back to top ^

Online learning survey results

Recently BCSTA conducted a survey to learn more about trustee’s interest in online programming. The survey garnered approximately seventy responses. Most trustees said they would be interested in accessing online programs and suggested several topics of interest, but many were unfamiliar with the technology used and said they would like to learn more about it.

In the past, online learning was delivered exclusively over conference telephone connections and lacked visuals. Most recently, BCSTA has been testing web conferencing software, called Elluminate, used by several schools, which allows the presentation of slides and other electronic information simultaneously to all participants via the Internet. 

Read the summary or the complete results of the survey.  Interested in learning more about Elluminate?  Visit the Learn Now BC website for more information. 

Back to top ^

Sneak peek at Summer Leader

Summer and the latest edition of the Education Leader are both just around the corner. Expect the Leader to arrive in your mailbox mid-June with refreshing stories on the power of theatre and the arts in childhood education and an inside glimpse at an innovative First Nations outdoor education centre. The BCSTA Board of Directors’ share their goals for the coming year and President, Connie Denesiuk, delivers her inaugural column.  

Back to top ^