Official Canada Blog
News and notes from Google Canada
Celebrating World Teachers’ Day on Manitoulin Island
Monday, September 30, 2019
This World Teachers’ Day, we’re shining a spotlight on a special Canadian teacher who is using CS First, a
Grow with Google
curriculum for elementary and middle school students, in the classroom. Our guest author is April Aelick, who teaches grade 8 at Little Current Public School, which is part of the Rainbow District School Board on Manitoulin Island.
Having taught for almost seventeen years on Manitoulin Island -- at the same school I attended from kindergarten to grade 8, no less -- I know how challenging it is to keep students engaged and excited in class.
That’s why I was so happy to come across
CS First
, Google’s free computer science curriculum that makes coding easy for teachers to share and fun for students to learn. Earlier this year, I signed up for an evening workshop to learn CS First, with the hopes of being able to introduce it to my grade eight students.
At the workshop, I learned about an interesting concept called ‘computational thinking’. It’s a systematic approach to solving problems through data that is at the foundation of computer science and can be applied to many other subject areas -- and careers -- that intersect with technology.
As a teacher in a rural community, I can see how CS First will allow my students the opportunity to explore ways in which computer science can fit into their interests and possibly lead them down a career path they didn’t consider before. '
Ask any student or teacher, grade 8 can be a difficult age to engage students in something new. Many students are self-conscious and are reluctant to take risks. They can also get frustrated when things don’t go right. Often, they think the easy way out is to just quit.
CS First uses computational thinking to teach students not just hard skills, like coding, but the soft skills they need to be successful in life.
Recently, one of my students worked very hard on a CS First project and, well, had a “tech fail”. His entire project was lost, and he was very disappointed to say the least. While some students would easily give up, this student went right back to work, rewatched the tutorials online and created something even better than before. CS First helped teach the class a great lesson that day, beyond just learning how to code: there will inevitably be “tech fails”, and it is how you overcome these problems that will help you succeed in life.
The beauty of CS First is that it is so accessible to all students. There is no requirement for peripheral materials. I am lucky that my students have 1:1 access to Chromebooks, but even if a class didn’t have this option, it can still be used effectively with offline lessons.
I think if you’re a teacher interested in expanding computer science into your classroom, give CS First a try, you’ve got nothing to lose! The amount of problem-solving and willingness to take risks I have witnessed so far from my students has been worth it. Even teachers who are not comfortable with coding can find success in their classrooms.
Education opens doors for people that may be otherwise shut. It is my goal to expose my students to as many opportunities as I can so they don’t feel limited by their circumstances or geographic location. I teach amazing students that will have big impact in our world, and I want them to recognize that.
Editor’s note: Want to see CS First in action? Watch
this video
featuring an elementary school from Waterloo! If you’re interested in CS First, check out
our website
for how to get started.
Never miss your favourite artist on tour again - see tickets for live shows right on YouTube!
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Over 1 billion fans come to YouTube each month to connect with their favourite artists and discover new music. And now, we’re making it easy for Canadians to go from experiencing music online to seeing live performances through our partnerships with Ticketmaster and Eventbrite.
Starting today, Canadian fans watching videos from Official Artists Channels will see ticket listings for live music performances throughout Canada and the US. With one easy click on the “Tickets” button, they’ll be able to purchase directly from one of our ticket vendors.
This new feature is an expansion of the ticketing integration first launched with Ticketmaster in 2017 in the US.
Live events continue to be a major source of revenue for artists, so we want to help artists keep fans updated on their upcoming shows and sell more tickets to live performances. YouTube’s global audience also lets artists find new fans, with 24% of Millennials and 33% of teens claiming they discover live music events through the platform, according to a
Nielsen report
from 2018.
The new feature aims to connect fans with not only the
global artists they love
, but also will give them a chance to discover more intimate events with breakthrough
Canadian talent
.
YouTube is the space where many Canadian artists first built their online platform. We’re excited to continue furthering the power of video discovery on YouTube by bringing those artists and fans closer together through live shows.
Posted by Andrew Lindsay, Head of Music Label Partnerships, YouTube Music Canada
Federal Elections 2019: Helping Canadians Make Informed Decisions
Monday, September 23, 2019
Canada’s 43rd election has been called and the team at Google is busy building products and programs to protect the democratic process, to help campaigns manage their digital presences, and to help Canadians engage in their democracy.
Getting Voters the Information they Need
In anticipation of heading to the polls, we know people need useful and reliable information to navigate the election. Google supports the priorities outlined in the government's
Declaration on Electoral Integrity
, and is committed to providing information and services that meet these principles.
In 2019, we’re focused on directing Canadians to authoritative resources as they prepare to participate in the election. We're specifically working with
Elections Canada
to ensure the information we provide is timely and accurate ahead of election day.
Protecting Election Information Online
We’ve built free products to help campaigns keep information safe and to ensure that voters have accurate information when they need it.
With an emphasis on safeguarding campaigns from digital attacks, we’ve hosted several training sessions with policy makers, candidates, campaign teams, and journalists. These trainings focused on our
Advanced Protection Program
and
Project Shield
.
To help prevent the spread of misinformation surrounding elections, we continuously make product quality improvements and support newsrooms around the world with training and tools to better verify digital stories.
Learn more on how Google fights misinformation
.
Connecting Voters to Candidate Information
We provide ways for users to find reliable information about candidates, including information from candidates themselves.
In Search, features called “knowledge panels” help people quickly find an overview of facts and information about things, places, and people-- including political candidates. Information in knowledge panels comes from a variety of sources, including authorities with candidate information. Candidates can also claim their knowledge panels and suggest factual changes once they have been verified.
More here.
YouTube can help campaigns to connect with voters, strengthen their online presences, control their stories, and engage with audiences wherever they are, with videos that can easily be embedded across all media platforms and on official websites. With YouTube Live, campaigns can now broadcast townhalls and speeches live to their audiences with the push of a button.
More here.
Working with Newsrooms
Google and YouTube work closely with Canadian news organizations to support high-quality journalism. In 2019, the
Google News Lab
team conducted several in-person trainings in Canadian newsrooms to ensure journalists were aware of Google tools that might aid in their reporting and storytelling.
With the constant flow of election coverage, we know it’s critical for news organizations to stay up-to-date on the topics that matter. Tools like
Google Trends
, which allows exploration of frequent searches and questions relating to the elections, and a dedicated
Google Trends Canadian Federal Election 2019
page, make it easier for these organizations to stay current.
Google Ads Policy
To comply with new legislation, Google's advertising policies prohibit running Election Ads and Issue Ads during the regulated periods. Read more
here
.
Amplifying our Voice with Partners
Through various non-partisan partnerships, we’re continuing to provide relevant information to enable participation in the 2019 Federal Elections. Learn more about our partnerships below:
We’ve partnered with
Elections Canada
to source and promote authoritative voter information. Elections Canada is also leveraging “Posts on Google” to communicate directly with voters from Search by sharing videos, infographics and images about the 2019 election.
These published posts
are available on the Elections Canada knowledge panel.
Apathy is Boring
is a non-partisan, charitable organization that supports and educates youth to be active and contributing citizens in Canada’s democracy. In partnership with
Ryerson’s University’s Democratic Engagement Exchange,
Apathy is Boring has gathered a coalition of organizations to promote citizen engagement, with a pledge to collectively engage 1 million new voters in the 2019 federal election. Google shares Apathy is Boring’s mission of democratic engagement and will be supporting the
Canadian Vote Coalition
and other non-partisan civic literacy activities leading up to the 2019 Canadian Federal Election.
To educate school-aged Canadians on fact-based journalism, we worked with the
Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF)
to launch a national news literacy program, News Wise. With a $1 million dollar grant from Google.org and a partnership between CJF and
CIVIX
(Student Vote), NewsWise was piloted with Ontario teachers participating in Student Vote Ontario 2018. NewsWise will continue to evolve and rollout new resources leading up to the 2019 Federal Elections.
Like others, we’re committed to supporting the upcoming election. With the race ramping up, our aim is to keep Canada’s democratic processes secure and to provide Canadians access to the authoritative electoral information that they need to engage in their democracy.
Posted by Colin McKay, Head of Government Relations, Google Canada
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