University of Alberta School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) alumni Lorisia MacLeod and Kayla Lar-Son are proving to be influential leaders in the library community.

Lanie Luarca brought with her a dozen years of teaching experience in her native Philippines and in Dubai, UAE, when she relocated with her family to Canada in 2016. An assessment by Alberta Education showed significant upgrading would be required for her to become licensed to teach in the province so she settled into working in a daycare centre. She says she liked the job, but her desire to return to teaching persisted.

The coronavirus pandemic prompted a widespread shift to online learning that left educators without much chance to prepare for the new mode of delivering their courses. Two years later, some are still struggling to make their virtual teaching as meaningful and effective as in-person instruction.

Among the challenges presented by remote learning is the need to accurately assess each students’ progress and provide timely, constructive feedback that helps them identify their strengths and address their weaknesses—a challenge that’s compounded in higher education settings by large class sizes and complex concepts that call on higher order thinking skills.

When science educator Carol Brown started developing materials to teach about vaccines and information literacy in K-12 classrooms, she brought in a special consultant to help with creating resources for younger elementary children: her four-and-a-half-year-old son.

Twenty months into the coronavirus pandemic, the Education community—indeed, the entire province—is not as far along as we might have hoped in returning to a sense of normalcy, but there are compensations.

As part of its commitment to transformative teaching and learning, the Faculty of Education is proud to announce the launch of a new certificate, the Graduate Certificate in Educational Studies (GCES). The GCES provides the opportunity for working educational professionals to pursue studies in the disciplinary focus of their choice, using a cohort model to facilitate the development of professional learning communities.

University can be a big adjustment for many students, but Monique Makokis-Lee admits she wasn’t quite ready for all the challenges awaiting her when she enrolled in the U of A’s bachelor of education program in 2017. A member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation who was raised in Wetaskiwin, Makokis-Lee says she found the transition from a small reserve school to the U of A and the distance from her family and community overwhelming. Reluctantly, she withdrew from the BEd program.

Congratulations to the following Education faculty members, staff and students who have achieved distinction and have recently been acknowledged for their impactful work, both within and beyond the academic community.

U of A Faculty of Education maintains its spot in the Top 3 Faculties of Education in Canada

The University of Alberta delivers the top nursing education in Canada and has the third best education program, according to the Maclean’s 2022 Canadian University Rankings.

Jodi Harding-Kuriger says she can’t point to a particular formative experience that compelled her to pursue health and physical education (HPE) as the focus of her academic journey.

“I just love to move. [In physical education] you get to dance, you get to do gymnastics and play games, you get to be inside and outside, you can focus on team or individual sports,” she said. “I just love the variety and the feeling you get when you’re moving with others is so wonderful I just want to share it with everyone.”