ACE 2023: A Community in Action

by Marc Vézina
March 2023

The most important aspect of an event like the Anglophone Community Expo (ACE) are probably the hardest to describe in a text like the one that you are reading now.  The development of a sense of community amongst the participants, the renewing of their energy, and of their sense of purpose are difficult to describe after the fact. One kind of has to be there...  But here is my best shot!

Now in its 3rd edition, ACE 2023 was held on March 16th, online, with more than 50 attendees from Adult General Education & Vocational Training, including teachers, consultants, and administrators. The aim of the Expo?

• promote information sharing, discussion, and reflection among continuing education sector stakeholders;

• provide valuable information and resources to enhance teaching skills and help students to succeed;

• create an interactive, virtual event that would bring people together to live, and learn about, education technology.

The event was divided into two parts, with workshops and presentations in the morning (recordings are below on this page) and an EdCamp in the afternoon (notes are in this document) . 

One of the most popular presentations was given by Tracy Rosen and asked the question: "How can we push the boundaries of program requirements to ensure they meet the needs of our learners and communities?". It highlighted the fact that a flexible and adaptive education is not only about space but nurtures "accessibility and flexibility for our students and ourselves".

PROCEDE's Robin Long's workshop focused on the impact of digital literacy on tradespersons' competencies, how it affects trades programs, and how they are taught. The workshop explored how the notion of sustainability creates a need for new communication skills for cooks and chefs and, also, how design thinking impacts the empathy competency in the healthcare environment. For more information about training or stage funding opportunities available through the Centre of Expertise Network (CEN) and English Language Vocational Education Council (ELVEC), contact Shelly Smythe at vtinservice@nfsb.qc.ca.

Denise Giguère, from the Lester B Pearson School board, hosted a workshop titled: "The W5 of Funding Innovative Pedagogical Projects". It provided information on funding opportunities for innovative projects in vocational training, such as Mesure 15081 (for developing innovative practices), and Mesure 15192 (to develop material for remote asynchronous learning). She also shared tips from her experience on how to submit demands that will be accepted.

Another workshop, hosted by the author of these lines, emphasized the need for professional development based on the principles of peer-to-peer support. Titled “I am too [blank] for PD!”, the workshop led the attendees to hope that their ideas reached the decision makers so principles of “effective PD” will get more widely spread  and followed.

The EdCamp was a virtual forum for heart-to-heart conversations and sharing of good practices that left participants feeling energized. It opened with the members adding their preoccupations to boards, grouped under six themes: Hybrid teaching and learning, Accessibility and flexibility, Supporting special needs, Innovative projects, Connecting teachers, and Inclusive classrooms. The participants then moved to different spaces in the gather.town environment to discuss and analyze the different aspects that had been highlighted. This document contains the Jamboards that initiated the discussions and the notes that were taken.

Next year’s date is not determined yet but the organizing committee hopes to see you there!

The recordings of the workshops are hosted on the YouTube chain of the Après-cours, an accompaniment and support platform for vocational training and adult general education stakeholders. Click the play arrows below to watch a preview. You can then click the YouTube logo to open the full recording, with time indexes and links to pertinent documents.