2020: Year in Review
The year began quite differently than it’s ending. When we think back to January, it simultaneously feels like yesterday and twenty-five years ago.
As we take pause and reflect on what will be remembered as the year that changed everything, we are steeped in gratitude and appreciation for the ability and opportunities to connect and work with wonderful educators and industry partners, fervently committed to education and student success.
Join us as we look back at the milestones from 2020…
January saw our team travelling around the country…sigh. We were in Winnipeg for the first TransformEd Summit of the year with Microsoft Canada, while Martha wrestled the Flipgrid pod back in Ontario:
Our team kicked off the Imagine Cup in Canada, bringing AI for Good to students from York Region, Peel and Toronto District School Board.
In February we joined hundreds of educators in Calgary on the second stop of the TransformEd Summit series. Vancouver was next on the list, and then, we all know what happened. March happened. Life changed.
Following the news that students would not be returning to school, our team felt compelled to provide whatever stability and structure to our friends in education that we could. That resulted in opening the virtual doors to the FCL staff room and the launch of the FCL StaffRoom Chats. As a team we went live every weekday with an hour webinar supporting educators navigating the new world of remote learning. The format was more informal chat than webinar; topics ran the gamut from pedagogical how-to’s to culturally sensitive math. We welcomed industry partners, thought leaders and friends in public education into our digital staff room to share, support and provide inspiration.
Our staff room was not the only thing that went digital. With travel halted, TransformED followed suit in April. Members of our team joined a roundtable discussion exploring how remote learning can be impactful through the integration of asynchronous and synchronous learning platforms.
We took a deep dive into webinars in May. The FCL Staffroom chat continued, as well as the popular Phygital Edu series by Corinne Hoisington and the launch of our Minecraft: Education Edition series with superteam Barb Seaton, Blaise Patterson, Mike Washburn and Cathy and Steve Isaacs. The response was huge and led to both series running through June.
Martha was a featured guest on the STEAM BizChat with Staples Advantage, lending her expertise to a discussion on how the education sector is integrating STEAM into curriculum and what trends we’re seeing in how students and teachers are engaging in this real world learning experience.
At the ConnectEd Leadership conference on June 29th Martha and Senior Director of Learning and Impact, Jeff Hainbuch, shared the research and learnings presented from their collaboration with Higher Ed, K-12, community and education technology leaders from the newly formed council, Education Onward. The council began with the mission to bring Canadian leaders together for a cross-sectoral dialog focused on the current shift to remote learning in education, considering the past, present, and future. Dedicating energy and rigour to offering leadership to Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the new reality for public education. The council went on to publish the following white paper:
Partnerships are a huge part of our success. We are driven by the successes of those we work with and are proud to curate unique opportunities for educators across the country and beyond with industry leaders. The summer of 2020 was the summer of partnerships. We proudly supported and participated in a number of collaborations, starting with Canada Learning Code and TeacherCon, a free, multi-day virtual conference. We joined forces with MindUP to support educators navigating the new world of blended learning, sharing mindfulness and wellbeing tactics to build immersive, high-quality experiences for students in our Blended Learning Approach webinar. Our partnerships with Taking It Global and ICTC brought about exciting new programs for educators, CodingChange and Cybersercurity for Students, respectfully. The Can Code to Learn program CodingChange, investigated the UN SDG’s and ways to engage students through coding, and gain benefits from coding and design thinking. CodingChange included a seven week webinar series and kit delivered free to educators across the country:
Cybersecurity Fundamentals for Students, began in September and continues through to March 2021. A fully-funded program by ICTC, the course helps students learn how to protect their digital identity and build digital literacy skills required for learning remotely. You can register and learn more about it here: ICTC’s Cybersecurity Fundamentals.
We turned ten in October and introduced the world to our new logo and icon Celly:
And we got very series about math! Just kidding, we’ve always been serious about math. We launched the FCL Math Club, tackling the new Ontario Math curriculum and the Math + Minecraft: Education Edition series. Minecraft was a big part of our year, culminating in the creation of a new Minecraft world, and lesson of the week:
October also brought us a sneak peek of the new BBC micro:bit V2, and we were finally able to share the exciting news that FCL would be powering this year’s micro:bit LIVE Virtual event.
On December 3rd we celebrated International Day of Persons with Disabilities with D2L and Zoom in a webinar discussion on how we can build toward disability-inclusive, accessible, and sustainable post COVID-19 education for all. We proudly shared the stories of Shrey Bhatt and Devante Taylor, with Microsoft Canada, in celebration of #IDPD and recognition of their indomitable spirits and commitment to success: Building a more resilient and inclusive future through assistive technology.
To finish the year with a bang, and in gratitude of the educators we serve, we excitedly launched our online hub, The FCL Educator Community. The community is a free online destination for educators to access curated content, professional learning opportunities and classroom resources. You can join here.
As 2020 comes to a close, we share these milestones as a thank you to the partners and educators who make our work possible and impactful. We look to 2021 hopeful, having seen the power of people helping and supporting one another to thrive.
From everyone at FCL, thank you and have a safe and happy holiday.
