TeachingCity partnership in Oshawa celebrates five years

After a five year partnership between the City of Oshawa and its education and research partners, the people behind the TeachingCity have plenty to crow about.

TeachingCity brings together the City of Oshawa and its accomplices in this venture, Durham College, Ontario Tech University, Trent University Durham Greater Toronto Area, and the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

The partners address Oshawa’s urban issues through innovation, collaboration, applied research and shared experiential learning opportunities with the aim to position Oshawa as a local, national and global community of urban research and learning.

“This is a milestone year for TeachingCity Oshawa as we celebrate the five-year anniversary of this collaboration with our post-secondary and research partners,” said Mayor Dan Carter, sentiments echoed by Ontario Tech President Dr. Steven Murphy, who said “hands-on learning is a core component” of the Ontario Tech experience.

“We’re thankful for another successful year of partnership with the City of Oshawa and the organizations involved in TeachingCity projects,” he added. “Our students gain valuable, practical experience as they team with City staff to develop innovative solutions that harness technology to make a positive impact in their local community.”

The partnership just released its 2021/2022 TeachingCity Oshawa Progress Report (now available online at TeachingCityOshawa.ca.), which highlights the accomplishments achieved in year five, which spans from September 2021 to August 2022.  Some of the notable projects include:

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• Eleven City Idea Lab courses – Working in a hybrid-learning environment, more than 250 students from Durham College, Ontario Tech University and Trent Durham collaborated with faculty and City staff to co-design possible solutions to various challenge questions within the community. The City Idea Lab experiential learning opportunities were offered via credit courses during the fall and winter semesters.
• Age-Friendly Competency Game – Faculty and students from Ontario Tech University developed an interactive training tool to train City and Oshawa Senior Community Centres 55+ (OSCC55+) staff in the application of an age-friendly lens in service and program delivery. The training immerses staff in scenario-based learning through a custom Gamified Educational Network with competency-based assessments. This innovative training provides a framework to learn and demonstrate age-friendly cultural competencies enhancing support for the city’s aging population.
• Engaging Youth through Digital Media – Faculty and students from Trent Durham designed and facilitated filmmaking workshops to provide an opportunity for youth to engage in digital literacy. This provided local high school students the opportunity to apply their new knowledge to develop computer safety skills through the creation of short films.
• Virtual Reality Firefighter Training – Durham College faculty and students are collaborating with Oshawa Fire Services to develop a virtual reality simulation of an uncontrolled, structural collapse scenario to enhance training for firefighters. Through this technology, it is anticipated that firefighters will be better equipped from training in an immersive environment and will learn to manage stressors, optimize performance and reduce injuries and incidences of post-traumatic stress.
• Student Placements – The City oversaw more than 40 student placement and practicum opportunities, which provided students the opportunity to further develop real-life applied skills in a work-integrated learning environment. Through placement opportunities, post-secondary students bring new ideas and fresh perspectives to City departments and staff and help support the achievement of department goals and corporate initiatives.

Learn more about TeachingCity at TeachingCityOshawa.ca and follow #OshTeachingCity on Twitter and Instagram.

“The TeachingCity partnership is experiential learning at its best,” said Durham College President Don Loviso. “The ability to participate in the problem-solving of real-life issues that directly impact residents and businesses provides students with essential hands-on training, allowing them to tap into innovative ways of thinking to strengthen the skills learned in the classroom.”