Today's Date: March 29, 2024
Navigating Spring Break Sexual Health: Advice from Dr. Deb Laino Sex and Relationship Therapist and Powerful Life Coach   •   Naropa University Launches Pioneering Psychedelic Minor     •   Committee for Children Now Offers a PreK-12 Full-Suite Solution with the Highly Anticipated Launch of Second Step® High Scho   •   e.l.f. Cosmetics Debuts TikTok Shop Super Brand Day   •   Parkland Corporation Announces the Results of the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders   •   Coachella Concerned That People Have Sex, Says AHF   •   World Class Dyslexia, Literacy, and Neuroscience Experts Gather with Educators for Two-Day Professional Learning Event   •   Re:wild and Colossal Biosciences team up to leverage revolutionary technology to save critically endangered species on the brink   •   Charity Navigator Launches Women's Advocacy List for Women's History Month   •   101 Mobility® Eden Prairie: Leading the Way in Mobility and Accessibility Solutions   •   Anaergia Announces Delay in the Filing of Its Audited Financial Statements and Related Disclosures   •   AMIGOS FOR KIDS LAUNCHES "THE MISSING REVIEW"   •   Navigating Birth Control: Expert Advice from Dr. Bana Kashani, OB-GYN   •   Midea Group releases its first-ever ESG brand story with an unexpected VIP visit highlighting its commitment to sustainability.   •   Anaergia Announces Escrow Closing of Second Tranche of the Strategic Investment   •   Fosun Management on 2023 Annual Results: Focusing on Core Industries with Established Advantages   •   National University Receives 2024 Military Friendly® Gold Designation   •   Walmart Connect Announced as Presenting Sponsor of the 2024 WIN Summit   •   Chosgo K23: One of the Best Bluetooth Hearing Aids for Seniors   •   Syngenta Group reports $32.2 billion sales and $4.6 billion EBITDA in 2023
Bookmark and Share

Shifting to At-Home Education Leaves Some Canadian Kids at a Disadvantage

Shifting to At-Home Education Leaves Some Canadian Kids at a Disadvantage

Canada NewsWire

Canadian Organizations Step Up Efforts to Ensure STEM Education Continues to Reach Marginalized, At-Risk and Indigenous Youth

TORONTO, July 8, 2020 /CNW/ - With in-school sessions paused across the country, educators have been grappling with the need to provide effective lessons remotely and digitally for students now learning at home. As teachers shift to online learning and parents start to play a bigger role, Canadian not-for-profit organizations are working hard to ensure that ever-important Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education can continue to be delivered to the kids who are hardest to reach – many of whom also need it most.

Actua and Let's Talk Science, Canada's leading STEM education outreach organizations, have long been focused on segments of the population vastly under-represented in STEM education. They've been placing special emphasis on reaching girls, new Canadians, Indigenous kids and youth, kids and youth residing in at-risk communities, and kids and youth living in rural and remote areas of the country.

Actua is a national charity that delivers STEM education outreach programs to more than 350,000 young Canadians every year. Traditional activities have included summer camps, classroom workshops, STEM clubs, teacher training and community outreach. But, with COVID-19 affecting how education is delivered, the focus has now shifted on new initiatives.

Actua has been supporting the development and delivery of remote STEM workshops to bring important programming to children via the Internet. The organization is also supporting the development and delivery of online STEM Summer Camps. Finally, Actua is developing, manufacturing and delivering hands-on STEM education kits for children with little or no access to technology – including those in Indigenous communities.

"As an organization that builds the STEM innovators of the future, Actua's work is more relevant than ever," said Jennifer Flanagan, CEO of Actua. "This type of global crisis offers a lens through which we can more clearly see the importance of developing resilience, adaptability, creativity and problem-solving as foundational skills in youth."

"The pandemic has impacted all students nationwide, but not equally," Flanagan added. "Youth who live in rural and remote communities have less access to broadband and technology. To solve this issue, we've launched Actua at Home - a series of remote online and offline STEM learning opportunities and kit-based programs to support youth, parents and educators with a targeted focus on engaging the most vulnerable youth populations from coast to coast to coast."

Let's Talk Science, the other top STEM education outreach organization that encourages young Canadians to pursue STEM careers, has responded to the changes wrought by COVID-19 by developing and rolling out a remote learning project called The Horizon Project. This initiative is aimed at students in grades 4-6, a group identified as being most at-risk for losing interest in STEM programs.

Under The Horizon Project, Let's Talk Science is distributing learning packs that include materials to support STEM literacy and interest, as well as instructions and materials required for hands-on activities such as games and design challenges that use household items. Let's Talk Science has also grown its "STEM at Home" online resource library.

"As the world shifts to support students' online learning, the inequity gap is growing quickly. Children with little or no access to devices and/or internet are being left behind," said Dr. Bonnie Schmidt, President and Founder of Let's Talk Science. "We can't afford to leave these kids behind. The Horizon Project aims to send a caring signal to vulnerable youth who may not be engaged in online learning that we believe in them and that learning is key for their future."

Of course, this additional STEM education outreach programming costs money. And that's where corporate funders come in. Organizations like the Toyota Canada Foundation have significantly increased their support for both Actua and Let's Talk Science this year in order to help boost the remote and at-home learning strategies.

"As learning has shifted from the classroom to the household, children and youth without the proper digital tools and educational resources are being left behind and it's becoming more difficult for the marginalized in our communities to get ahead in STEM as these groups are already underrepresented," said Toyota Canada Foundation Board Member, Leslie Miller. "Toyota Canada Foundation is focused on programs that reach out to and support these kids and we believe its vitally important to continue to reach and engage them in STEM education experiences as they adapt to this new reality."

In an online interview recorded live on May 29, Canada's Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Navdeep Bains told Actua CEO Jennifer Flanagan that investing in STEM is about empowering people – especially Canadian youth.

"Good ideas can come from anyone and anywhere. It's not just about focusing on traditional kind of segments of society," Bains noted. "But if we invest in Indigenous communities, young people, particularly young girls and women who tend to fall through the cracks historically when it comes to science, technology, engineering and mathematics – we just basically expand the number of opportunities we have to generate even more ideas and I think that just makes us better, makes us more competitive."

About the Toyota Canada Foundation:

The Toyota Canada Foundation is a private charitable foundation focused on supporting registered charitable organizations dedicated to national science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education outreach programs focused on encouraging more youth from segments of the population currently underrepresented in STEM to pursue an education and career in this area.

For more details, including a full list of media contacts, digital images and product details please visit media.toyota.ca.

SOURCE Toyota Canada Inc.



Back to top
| Back to home page
Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News