Introduction

Welcome to Library and Archives Canada's Learning Centre -- bringing quality educational products and services to teachers and students.

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has a collection strong in history, literature and music. The Learning Centre allows us to open our vaults to all Canadians by making some of our treasures available online. Students gain access to material that will enrich their learning experience.

The Learning Centre should be considered as a work in progress. New material will be added as it is produced. We invite you to visit our site from time to time to see the latest developments.

Teachers and students will find websites, educational tools, and digitized primary sources (printed documents, diaries, maps, illustrations, paintings, manuscripts, and printed and recorded music) from LAC holdings. These resources stimulate students' imaginations and develop their critical thinking skills, as well as help teachers make Canadian history, literature and music come to life.

If you are an educator, be sure to have a look at "For Teachers." You'll find comprehensive teaching units and strategies, lesson plans, ideas and activities for the classroom, quizzes, games and guides on using primary sources, as well as workshops for professional development. Many of the tools found in the Learning Centre have been produced as a result of suggestions and comments from Canadian educators. If you want to suggest an idea, you can send it to us by clicking on the "Submit an Idea" button in the "For Teachers" section.

"For Students" includes links to great websites, designed just for kids, as well as suggestions for great reading.

Students' learning skills can be improved using the Learning Centre's "Toolkit." Guides in the Toolkit cover a wide variety of topics and research skills such as how to use primary and secondary sources and develop Internet research skills.

"The EvidenceWeb" offers teachers and students a valuable selection of original documents (photographs, letters, diary entries, art works, political cartoons, newspaper articles, and printed and recorded music) from the LAC collection. These materials are organized by theme to enrich student projects and supplement textbooks. Original documents bring Canadian history and culture directly to students, allowing them to examine evidence from the past and decide for themselves what really happened.

The EvidenceWeb

The EvidenceWeb This searchable database of primary and secondary source material is arranged by theme. You will find a wide selection of documents, including texts, photographs, maps and newspaper clippings. Many objects in this database have a special pre-authorized copyright license that permits students and teachers to use them for educational purposes. Curriculum-based activities accompanying The EvidenceWeb will be available by mid-summer.

The Kids' Site of Canadian Settlement

The Kids' Site of Canadian Settlement To help students learn about early Canadian settlement communities, Library and Archives Canada has created online educational resources to accompany The Kids' Site of Canadian Settlement. This educational material, designed and written for students in grades 4 to 6, provides students and their teachers access to information on Canada's settlement communities. We have conducted a study of provincial and territorial curricula to identify the best curricular fit, and have provided a full teaching unit with an evaluation rubric. This teaching resource uses the site's interactive games and includes both individual and group activities. This site's settlement theme has curricular tie-ins to history, national identity, human rights, culture, muticulturalism, language arts and geography.

Census at School. - [Cited June 2, 2005]. - Access: www.censusatschool.ca

• An international Web-based classroom activity for students aged 8 to 18. Help your students develop computer literacy, critical thinking and technology skills. Raise their awareness of civic duty and the benefits of census-taking. Encourage positive attitudes to statistics. This is knowledge-based learning at its best!

The Canadian Encyclopedia online. -- [Cited Feb. 14,2005]. Access: www.canadianencyclopedia.ca

• Explore every conceivable subject on Canada including history, geography, culture, sports, politics, business, social issues, education, science, technology and current events at www.canadianencyclopedia.ca Search 40,000 articles, 6,000 photographs, interactive maps, videos, animations, quizzes and engaging multimedia games. Available in French and in English, free of charge.
  Find also The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada.

Our Roots : Canada's Local Histories Online. -- [Cited Aug. 31,2004]. Access: www.ourroots.ca

• These innovative educational modules provide Canadian youth with engaging ways to make Canadian history personally exciting and relevant by bringing local histories into the curriculum.

Ontario History Quest [online]. -- [Cited April 26, 2004]. -- Access: http://ohq.tpl.toronto.on.ca/home2.jsp

• New online tool for grades 7, 8, 10 and 12 History students with searchable databases using primary sources to discover Ontario's history.

Froese-Germain, Bernie. -- Virtual education, real educators : issues in online learning. -- Ottawa : Professional and Developmental Services, Canadian Teachers' Federation, 2003. -- 71 p. -- Also published in French under the title: Éducation virtuelle : éducatrices et éducateurs réels : enjeux de l'apprentissage en ligne

• A publication that helps teachers critically examine the implications of online education in the context of their own classrooms and profession.

Media Awareness Network [online]. -- [Cited March 9, 2004]. --
www.media-awareness.ca/english/index.cfm

• Offers resources and support for everyone interested in media and information literacy for young people.