Rarity of Educational Resources for Students with Special Needs: A Partnership Forms Between the Consortium Centre Jules-Léger and Groupe Média TFO for An Inclusive Learning Environment

OTTAWA and TORONTO, ON, Jan. 28, 2021 /CNW/ - Groupe Média TFO (TFO) and the Consortium Centre Jules-Léger (CCJL) combine their expertise and efforts to develop a set of educational solutions for students with special needs. This unprecedented agreement signed by TFO and the CCJL for the creation of new resources tailored to the reality of these children aims to make learning accessible to all.

With the goal of taking its inclusive pedagogical approach even further, TFO will leverage its digital learning platform, IDÉLLO, along with the expertise of the CCJL, to create educational materials and content that are accessible to students with special needs. This initiative aims to make this community of learners more visible by facilitating their inclusion, enabling them to reach their full potential.

"For over 40 years, staff members at the Centre Jules-Léger Consortium have been supporting the development of the full potential of children with special needs. Thanks to this experience, the CCJL will be able to enhance the educational resources developed by TFO, ensuring that they are inclusive and accessible and that they account for proven practices in teaching and supporting students." - Jean-François Boulanger, Director of Education, Consortium Centre Jules-Léger.

Through this new three-year collaborative agreement, TFO and the CCJL intend to provide Ontario's French-language schools with excellent teaching materials designed to support the learning experience of students with special needs.

 As a result, school staff will be better equipped to educate and support these students.

Inventing new ways to learn

"We are very pleased to work hand in hand with the CCJL through this partnership which supports and strengthens our common educational missions. With TFO's production expertise and the CCJL's knowledge of French-language special education in Ontario, we will implement an innovative and forward-thinking vision of creative, experiential and digital learning. In order to provide teachers and special needs students with digital learning resources to prepare them to conquer the world of tomorrow with pride, we will co-create various spaces for dialogue, interactivity and discussion." - Julie Caron, Chief Digital Learning Officer, Groupe Média TFO

While education is already changing under the impetus of technological innovation, digital technology has an important role to play in facilitating learning for students with special needs, namely by removing barriers. The flexibility it offers allows for educational customization and continuity, to ensure success for all. TFO and the CCJL wish to seize this opportunity to create engaging and high-quality learning opportunities through accessible ―not merely adapted― learning environments.

Collaborations for equal access to learning
To begin implementing these practical and inclusive solutions, and to help make learning accessible to all, TFO and the CCJL are working on the deployment of an awareness campaign about the realities of the deaf and hard of hearing community (February-March 2021).  A series of interactive books in Quebec Sign Language, all written, illustrated and interpreted by deaf and hard of hearing persons, will be offered on IDÉLLO to help develop reading skills. This project is committed to valuing the representation and expression of Ontario's deaf and hard of hearing Francophone community in all its diversity, by promoting an overarching commitment to special education.

In addition, through focus groups, user tests, roundtables and intensive work sessions (design thinking), CCJL school staff members and students will provide feedback on TFO's learning resources to ensure that they accurately capture the reality of students with special needs. To this end, some 100 TFO-certified teaching sheets will be produced specifically for these learners.

About Consortium Centre Jules-Léger (CCJL)
The Consortium Centre Jules-Léger is a provincial institution offering special education to Francophone students at the preschool, elementary and secondary levels, specifically to children who are deaf and hard of hearing, blind or low vision, or deafblind, as well as to students with severe learning disabilities.

About Groupe Média TFO
Groupe Média TFO, stories that shape our tomorrows
Groupe Média TFO is a Franco-Ontarian public media company offering an interconnected discovery experience across its educational, cultural and current content in French. Audiences lie at the heart of Groupe Média TFO's omnichannel mission and vision, where they see themselves growing alongside its innovative and award-winning creations. By its educational mandate, on television, on digital platforms and through its initiatives and applications, Groupe Média TFO puts knowledge within arm's reach. At the forefront of digital learning, the company reflects the vitality and diversity of the community it serves and prepares the next generation for the world of tomorrow.

About IDÉLLO
IDELLO is Groupe Média TFO's digital education platform. It offers over 13,000 French-language resources to help students in the acquisition of transferable skills, in order to foster their enlightened digital citizenship and to proudly prepare them for tomorrow's job market.

SOURCE Groupe Média TFO