Software
Each month, in this newsletter, there is a page devoted to "News from OSAPAC". Typically, it's a place where I indicate what pieces of software have been provincially licensed and distributed to all Ontario School Districts.
However, the site contains much more than just that. As the new webmaster, I know every nook and cranny of this site. The mandate of the program requires the Ontario Software Acquisition Advisory Committee to identify software needs expressed by Ontario educators, review new software titles that help address these needs, and then make recommendations to the Ministry of Education about what titles should be considered for provincial licensing.
By itself, that sounds like a nice little administrative task. Let's sit back and wait for the software to show up. However, there is also another side to this mandate and that is to provide additional support for the licensed software. In the past, this has meant a number of things including organising regional training sessions. Through the power of the website, there's much more.
The committee seeks to identify the strong curriculum relationships that exists and were the reason for the original licensing of the products. By following the curriculum link, you'll hit the gold mine. What follows is a comprehensive listing of Curriculum Connections. Each area of study, Grades 1-8 or Grade 9 has its own PDF file. From the Ontario Curriculum documents, expectations are tied to Ministry licensed software. You don't have to make the fit; it's done for you.
A recent addition to the site tries to identify uniquely Ontario websites with content that supports the Ontario curriculum. This list is growing. If you know of a site that would be appropriately added, there's a link to make the suggestion.
Supporting Ontario computer using educators is the mandate. Visit the site and find out how.
