Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to announced that this is Education Week in the Northwest Territories. This year's theme is "technology in the classroom."
We've all heard about the electronic super-highway and how it will shape communications in the coming years. The development of this highway has implications for education in the Northwest Territories and the world.
First, if the Northwest Territories is going to keep up with the rapid pace of technological change now and in the future, it is essential that our students learn how to use new technologies as they emerge.
Secondly, the electronic highway is potentially an excellent teaching tool, enabling Northwest Territories students to access information from a wide range of sources, and to communicate and collaborate on projects with other students in the rest of Canada and throughout the world.
For example, a few days ago students at Samuel Hearne School in Inuvik, Ecole St. Joseph School in Yellowknife and a school in Hillsboro, California were linked by computer to participate in a unique pilot project. They were testing the capabilities of communications technology for an international expedition which will take place next year. Students and staff in the three schools worked with computers, scanners and a computer tablet to learn more about the international Arctic project from the expedition team which was working out of Ecole St. Joseph School.
Next year, this team of international explorers and scientists will conduct a major expedition to increase understanding of the Arctic and its role in the global environment. They will use an international computer network to interact daily with students in grades four through 12 in classrooms around the world.
The team is currently on a practice expedition into the central Arctic, and their progress reports are posted regularly on the North of 60 electronic bulletin board system and internet.
Northwest Territories schools will follow this project on a daily basis through the bulletin board system, which my department established last year. Their participation in the international Arctic project teleconference was made possible through the cooperation of NorthwesTel, which contributed a good deal of the equipment and staff expertise.
To ensure all students in the Northwest Territories have access to the bulletin board system, Education, Culture and Employment has provided all schools with a computer and a high-speed modem. Schools in every community and the department can exchange messages, transfer files and access data banks and distance learning materials. During Education Week, schools will participate in a number of projects using the north of 60 system.
The department is also developing a distance education strategy which will provide communities in the Northwest Territories access to an electronic information and distance learning system.
All communities will be electronically linked and connected to national and international information networks. The department will provide programming for these networks using television, radio, libraries and computers.
Through consolidation of programs, a new information networks division was established in the department which brings together staff with expertise in this area. Information networks coordinates Government of the Northwest Territories participation in Television Northern Canada supports regional, community and private broadcasters; and, provides library services in partnership with communities, library boards and school boards. It also produces, acquires and distributes learning resources for school-based and distance education programs.
Madam Speaker, my department is already working in partnership with other government departments and agencies, aboriginal broadcasters and the private sector on the development and use of new communications networks.
To ensure that the distance education strategy is developed with input from all of these partners, as well as the residents of the Northwest Territories, the department has contracted the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation to plan a symposium on distance learning and new communications technologies. The symposium will be held this summer on TVNC, so it will be broadcast in communities from Labrador to Yukon. Presenters at the TVNC uplink sites in Yellowknife, Iqaluit and Whitehorse will facilitate discussions, while people from all communities will be able to phone in with comments and suggestions.
Madam Speaker, access to electronic sources of information will play an increasingly important role in the development of the Northwest Territories in the coming years. Education, Culture and Employment, with the cooperation of our partners, is developing an interactive networking system for the use and benefit of all residents of the Northwest Territories. I am pleased that the theme of Education Week reflects and promotes this innovative direction. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
---Applause