TORONTO — As the 2020-21 school year starts in unprecedented fashion, Ontario’s publicly funded broadcaster TVO is stepping up to support students, educators and parents by providing new resources, tools and content across its digital learning, TVOkids and current affairs platforms.
“At TVO, all of our children’s programming and digital learning resources are curriculum-aligned,” said Rashmi Swarup, vice-president of digital learning at TVO, in a press release today. “This is why teachers, students and parents can rely on us to get off to a great start this school year, and to stay on course no matter what challenges come their way.”
Some of the new resources and content include a Dr. Cheddar special that encourages families to share their feelings about the new school routine, curriculum aids for teachers, and games that help students learn coding.
Here are some of the resources and programming TVO is currently offering:
TVOkids (tvokids.com)
Special Videos: To help children get ready to go back to school — in the classroom or online — TVOkids has produced topical videos, including:
- Back to School — That TVOkids Show full episode
- Wearing a Mask — That TVOkids Show full episode
- School from Home — That TVOkids Show full episode
- Dr Cheddar: Back to School
Ask Dr. Ronni: On September 10, the live broadcast premiere of That TVOkids Show featured Dr. Ronald Cohn, president and CEO of Sick Kids Hospital, who answered kids’ questions about going back to school during the pandemic. The episode is available on the TVOkids Facebook page and the That TVOkids Show YouTube channel.
Safety and Coding Playlists: For parents and teachers, TVOkids offers a new Coding Playlist that supports the new math curriculum. In addition, kids will learn important information from the Go Back to School Safely with TVOkids YouTube playlist.
Current Affairs
The Agenda with Steve Paikin (www.tvo.org/theagenda): In September, TVO’s flagship current affairs show will feature guests and topics related to back-to-school, including interviews with senior government officials and a special panel on children and youth mental health. All episodes will be available on The Agenda’s website.
Ontario Hubs: Featured on TVO.org, the Ontario Hubs reporters are covering important back-to-school stories from across the province, including:
- How schools in Hamilton-Niagara are preparing to deal with pandemic-related mental-health challenges.
- Why several families in southwestern Ontario have chosen to homeschool their kids during Covid-19, and how they’re managing.
- How First Nations are coping with the unique challenges they face in getting their kids back to school.
Op-Eds on TVO.org: Contributors, including John Michael McGrath, will provide context and analysis to help parents and educators navigate back-to-school.
Digital Learning
TVO Mathify (tvomathify.com/students): TVO’s free, personalized online tutoring service for students in Grades 6-10 has introduced tools to help teachers and students succeed in math, including:
- New Mathify promotional and instructional videos for educators.
- Mathify Question Bank: 200 questions for students to answer independently, or with the help of Mathify tutors. Educators can also access the questions and use the whiteboard as a classroom tool.
TVO in the Classroom (education.tvo.org): Available through the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Virtual Learning Environment, TVO in the Classroom gives teachers access to TVO content that enhances in-class learning. The following new features have been introduced:
- Search feature that helps educators find resources quickly and easily.
- 80 new Grade 7 and 8 resources that support the following curriculum areas: health and physical education; history and geography; language; and science and technology.
- Featured resources, which will be regularly updated, such as a webinar on approach math visually, the TVOkids Power Hour, and the Dairy Education Program.
TVO mPower (tvompower.com): Through free online games that develop K-6 math skills in the classroom and at home, TVO mPower is supporting teachers and students with:
- Printable activity sheets in areas such as financial literacy for Grades 1-6.
- Game enhancements that support new curriculum areas such as coding.
- A resource page (no login required) that offers pedagogical supports for educators on how to use mPower for cross-curricular purposes.
TVO ILC (ilc.org): Ontario’s largest online high school is meeting the needs of students by:
- Increasing service hours for administrative staff in order to enhance support.
- Launching a new, more user-friendly website.
- Offering FAQs to assist students with technical, academic and mental health support information.
