Minister celebrates Education Week 2004

Education Minister John Ottenheimer joined Fred Douglas, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers'Association (NLTA), and honourary chair Dr. Alice Collins of Memorial University's Faculty of Education, along with the students and teachers of J.R. Smallwood Middle School in Wabush this morning for the opening ceremonies marking Education Week 2004.

This year's theme is Learning... A Class Act.

"Education is the means through which we realize our potential," Minister Ottenheimer said. "With education comes the ability to choose our future path and attain our personal and professional goals. Education opens doors and allows our young people to acquire the knowledge, skills and values to lead this province in the years ahead."

One class from each of the 11 school districts in the province joined the festivities through vClass communications software. These classes are part of the Information, Communication and Learning Technologies (ICLT) project, sponsored jointly by the Department of Education and school districts. Each class has been provided with computer software and digital equipment to enable students to apply the Internet to learning in the classroom. The purpose of the project is to further develop the innovative work already done using technology at the K-9 level in the province.

"We are extremely proud of our national reputation for delivering distance education," the minister noted. "This initiative allows these students to collaborate on-line to enhance the learning process. Participating teachers and students use new technologies and collaborative learning activities to enrich and support good teaching and learning practices. We want to know the best way to bring technology into the classroom so teachers and students can make the best use of this learning tool."

The minister congratulated all those involved in the delivery of education in the province and noted the positive results on provincial, national and international assessments, as reported in the department's recently released Indicators 2004 - A Report of Schools.

Sponsored annually by the NLTA, Education Week celebrates education and recognizes all those involved with delivering the quality education our students receive throughout the province.

Media contact: Lynn Salter, Communications, (709) 729-0048

2004 03 08                    12:15 p.m.