A highlight of the Learning@School conference for me has been the opportunity to meet with Pat Clifford and Sharon Friesen, co-founders of the Galileo Foundation based in Alberta, Canada.

Between them, Pat and Sharon have an extensive background as classroom practitioners and researchers, and are strong advocates of a a learner-centred, inquiry-based pedagogy. They’re also deeply involved in the pursuit of understanding how we can effectively integrate ICTs into our teaching and learning practices.

Recently Pat has drawn together the results of her research and practical experience as an educator to develop an online resource called Effectively Integrating Technology into K-12 Education , a project funded by the Albertan Ministry of Education.

This site is designed to assist teachers, teacher educators and preservice teachers to address the question: How can university faculty and preservice teachers have consistent access to the most current thinking of practitioners who are leading the way in ICT integration?

This resource is based on the research findings and recommendations of ‘Coming to teaching in the 21st century’ (PDF), produced by the Galileo Foundation, that I blogged about back in June last year.

The site has been developed fully in Flash, and provides some really insightful approaches to dimensions such as planning, resources and assessment, and includes insights into classrooms, including video clips, to illustrate the points made. Those working with the resource can design their ideal learning environment, using a small interactive toolset, then print it off as a pdf to work with.