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The e-learning experience shines at Concordia
E-learning was put on the spotlight at a conference last week at Concordia.
The Link reports people gathered from around the world to share their secrets on improving the e-learning experience.
Some of the technology highlighted included gesture-based computing, video games, synchronous online classes and social media.
Concordia Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning Ollivier Dyens says these technologies have forced us to really think about what is a twenty-first century university.
The university also wants to develop more of a mixture between conventional teaching and online multimedia tools in the traditional classroom.
Seminars advised professors on creating online courses at Concordia.
The for-profit organization operating adjunct to the university eConcordia has offered online courses to Concordia students since its launch in 2000.
It now makes up fifteen per cent of university enrollment with fifty-three credited courses offered this winter semester.
Concordia hopes to offer massive open online courses to people outside the university, however these courses will not be applicable to a Concordia degree.
STORY WRITTEN: AISHA SAMU
Cyprus almost bankrupt
Officials in Cyprus believe it could be only a matter of weeks before the island runs out of money.
They say it is crucial that a controversial 10 billion euro bailout be approved with international lenders by April 24.
Without the bailout, the government’s administration could be unable to pay state salaries and pensions.
The government will have little time to increase taxes, and spending cuts so that aid money can begin to flow into Cyprus.
A parliamentary economic committee has launched an inquiry into the handling of the crisis and how Cyprus came to find itself on the brink of bankruptcy.
Flickr Photo by: CyprusPictures
STORY WRITTEN BY: JAMIE-LEE GORDON
NL votes for college tuition freeze
Students in Newfoundland and Labrador can breath a sigh of relief, this fall.
The Canadian University Press reports that the province's General Assembly will keep the tuition freeze in light of the province’s annual budget.
The decision came after student groups lobbied to continue the ongoing freeze.
The average student debt goes around 20-thousand dollars, according to Michael Walsh.
He represents the the provincial branch of the Canadian Federation of Students.
Walsh says the move ensures that the North Atlantic province will remain leaders in ensuring access to postsecondary education.
However, the freeze has a catch.
The budget also proposes for that province’s schools to be under an “efficiency review” in order to find ways to save money.
The schools going under the radar will include the Memorial University of Newfoundland and the College of the North Atlantic.
Flickr Photo by: haven't the slightest
STORY WRITTEN BY: SATURN DE LOS ANGELES
Canadian parents not eligible for EI
By: Six Cent Press
Canadian parents might not qualify for employment insurance after going on a parental leave.
The current policy involves an evaluation based on a certain number of hours worked during the past year of employment.
The policy does not allow for parents to use the same work weeks for maternity leave and EI. According to CBC Montreal, this is leaving many parents who spent those weeks on a parent leave ineligible for benefits.
Jennifer Beeman, a coordinator with the Council for Women’s Access to Work believes the policy goes against the rights women have fought for for decades.
Beeman believes that maternity leave does not mean the same thing as being unemployed. Beeman says that being on maternity leave was harder for her than actually going to work.
A current estimate gathered by Ed Canning, an employment lawyer with Ross McBride law firm states that roughly 2,000 women will not qualify for EI every year because of maternity leave.
CJLO News - April 9 2013
Hosted by: Gabrielle Fahmy
Stories by: Danny Aubry, Jenna Monney-Lupert, Nikita Smith and Carlo Spiridigliozzi
Produced by: Brendan Adams
RBC hires foreign workers to replace Canadian employees
The Royal Bank of Canada is under investigation by the federal government after former employees explained that they had been fired so that foreign workers could come to Canada and take over their jobs.
According to the CBC, in February RBC told 45 employees working on the regulatory and financial application teams that their jobs would be terminated by the end of April. The foreign workers who will be working in Toronto are from a large outsourcing company from India that has a contract with RBC to supply IT work.
A RBC spokesperson stated that the foreign workers will be working in the bank’s offices until 2015. According to RBC, the work will then be transferred abroad, though some foreign workers will stay permanently.
Canada’s largest bank says the work is being outsourced for effectiveness and to save money.
It is against federal law for companies to bring foreign workers to Canada, even temporarily, if it forces Canadians to lose their jobs. RBC has refused to answer when asked how the work visas for the workers were approved, and stated that it is trying to find new positions for the Canadian employees affected by the decision. Only five out of the 45 workers have found new jobs within the bank.
Hundreds of RBC customers have criticized the bank, calling for a boycott and stated that they will move their accounts to another bank in support of the Canadian workers.
Flickr photo: Francisco Diez
New anti-government protest in Bangladesh
New protests against the government erupted in the Bengali capital city, Dhaka on Monday.
Al-Jazeera news reports, Bangladesh’s main opposition party along with their seventeen allies staged the protest. They are also calling for a nationwide strike.
The protestors are demanding for the release of more than one-hundred-fifty of their members arrested during previous uprisings.
There have been on and off-again protests against the ruling government since the arrest of the leader if the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party in January.
Most often protestors would clash with government loyalists.
Thirty people were injured during Monday’s protest.
Flickr Photo by: bengal*foam
Chez Soi project dismantled by P.Q.
Quebec is planning to dismantle the five-year At Home/Chez Soi program in Montreal
According to the Montreal Gazette, Quebec is dropping the $18.4 million federal project because health falls under provincial jurisdiction.
Several sources claim that the province had no say in how this project was set up or run.
Chez Soi is program that aims to help homeless people manage mental health problems by giving them a stable place to live.
Quebec health officials, however, say that the project is not going to be immediately dissolved.
Participants can still expect a monthly supplement toward their rent for one year.
Advocates working with the homeless say problems have already begun.
Participants started leaving their apartments in the fall after hearing rumours about the project’s end.
Chez Soi housed and was caring for about 230 clients in July. Last week the numbers have dropped to 160.
The Mental Health and social Services Agency is now handling the transition from chez soi’s mental health teams to service provided by programs in CSSS community health Clinics.
Marc Boutin, coordinator of mental health services at the Montreal agency, says their goal is to make sure that no one ends up on the street because of the end of Chez Soi.
A final decision on the program’s status has yet to be made.
STORY WRITTEN BY: JENNA MONNEY-LUPERT
Concerns over Montreal health care cuts
The Quebec government`s decision to cut millions of dollars from Montreal health care has become a growing concern for health care officials.
According to CBC News the Quebec government has decided to cut the health care budget by $100 million for 2013 and 2014.
the President of the Coalition of Physicians has stated that this decision is a complete outrage.
He is deeply concerned that this multi million dollar cut will have a negative impact on patient services.
He also stated that the government is not making enough of an effort to find other cost saving solutions.
CJLO News - April 8 2013
Hosted by: Aisha Samu
Stories by: Saturn de Los Angeles, Natasha Taggart, Kurt Weiss & Nikita Smith
Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi
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