Innovative Classrooms

Background

Alberta is a leader in the use of technology to support education.  Alberta Education announced that $18.5 million per year would be spent over a three year period, beginning September 2008, to support further integration of technology in Alberta's Grade 1 to 12 classrooms in all publicly funded school authorities and charter schools.  

Innovative and engaging learning environments enable students to develop the skills they need for global citizenship, lifelong learning and participation in the world of work. 

Alberta Education's Vision

Alberta Education's vision is to ensure that all Grade 1 to 12 classrooms in the province are equipped with key technologies that promote innovative teaching and learning.  

Program Criteria

The Innovative Classrooms Technology funding funded key technologies that promote innovative teaching and learning, specifically:

•  An instructional computer; and

•  A data projection device and/or electronic whiteboard. 

Once school jurisdictions had an instructional computer and projection device and/or electronic whiteboard in each classroom, the remaining funding could be used for additional classroom technologies, such as student laptops, classroom sound amplification systems, student response systems, visual digital presenters, assistive technologies and classroom software.  

Instructional computers in the classroom enables access to a wide range of digital resources and other tools. In addition to providing access to the most current information, it also facilitates improved student engagement through the use of the latest in multimedia lesson content.  

In order to ensure that school jurisdictions can maintain interoperability with their existing technical infrastructure, a specific platform or set of products was not defined.  For more information on these particular technologies and their use in classrooms, please see the attached bibliography. 

Procedures

Funding was on a per-student basis, using the Alberta Education frozen student count as of the end of May 2008. First year funding was released in September 2008. Funding for years two and three was released in September 2009 and September 2010 respectively. 

Reporting Procedures

A key component of the Innovative Classrooms Technology Funding program was to gather information on the current state of classroom technology in Alberta and the impact that this funding has on the province’s education system. This was accomplished through mandatory reporting from jurisdictions. All jurisdictions were required to:  

1. Complete an online survey that describes the current state of classroom technology; and   

2. Provide evidence of planning for the implementation of the core technologies related to this funding.

At the end of the three-year funding cycle, jurisdictions were required to complete an online survey that described the new current state of technology related to the funding and an evaluation of the outcomes achieved as a result of the program.  

Final reporting was due on or before October 31, 2011. 

For more information, see the Resources for School Jurisdictions page.