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Craig MacAulay (centre) with RoseAnne
Mussar (to his left) with an assembly
of Lakeview parents and teachers who
wanted to show their support for
Mr. McCauley's innovative approach to
primary school education.
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Junior PublishersFrench Immersion Elementary School Believes that Real Communication Requires a Real Audience.
Contrary to the image that you might have of elementary school teachers, Craig MacAulay of Lakeview Public School in Ottawa is a rebel. By pushing the boundaries of how students in his school use the Internet he is also pushing the education system to answer questions about what is the best and most appropriate use of the Internet when it comes to educating Canada's youngest learners.
Mr. MacAulay explained to us that his school's philosophy is that real communication requires a real audience.
- Student logs (daily diaries) that would normally be read only by the class room teacher are now distributed by email to the student's parents, allowing the parents a snap shot into their child's world and providing the students with the experience of writing for a live audience.
- Essay writing takes on new importance at Lakeview when the essays are in fact exchanged via email with French speaking students in distant schools located in Ontario, Quebec, and France
- Each student publishes their own web page on the school web site letting parents and friends know who they are and what is important to them in their world.
The email exchange program had an added benefit for MacAulay’s students this year. Via the Internet, a grade 5 class from Quebec City arranged a week-long visit to Ottawa with MacAulay’s class during education week. The Lakeview kids enjoyed an authentic immersion experience, as they spent time with the Francophone students, and invited them to their homes for evening meals. Said Mr. MacAulay, “The kids learned more French from hobnobbing with their Quebecois epals [email correspondents] for five days than from six months of my boring French lessons.” Despite initial reluctance to approve the visit, even the school administration had to admit it was an unqualified success.
In addition to being encouraged to be junior publishers, students actively use the Internet to conduct research relevant to their studies. "With our limited school budgets good text books are in short supply" comments MacAulay, " and even when they are available, they are often out of date by the time we get them. Using the Internet responsibly as a research tool prepares our kids for the world in which they will be living."
Regardless of how his early adopting tendencies are received by his superiors, the children's parents are very happy with the results. Out of twenty students, 19 of their parents are in close daily contact with their work through email. One parent, Dr. Colla Jean MacDonald, a leader in distance education at Ottawa University says, "We're thrilled that our daughter's school is so innovative and that we can be part of her education on a daily basis."
To learn more about Lakeview Public School and see the school web site for yourself you can visit http://www.ocdsb.edu.on.ca/lakeweb/ .
by: RoseAnne Mussar, Ottawa Ontario
Ms. Mussar is a parent of a student who attended Lakeview Public School during 2003/2004..
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