Education on Demand
As the Ministry of Education’s partner in digital learning, TVO is uniquely positioned at the intersection of technology, evidence-based pedagogy, and Ontario’s curriculum. With an expanding mandate to help grow the province’s online education capabilities and a host of new and expanded learning tools, TVO is here to support students, educators and parents with best-in-class resources whenever they need them.
TVO Education on Demand
Expanded Mandate – Online Learning
In 2020, legislation was passed expanding TVO’s mandate in the English-language publicly funded education system. At the time of writing, this change to TVO’s mandate awaits proclamation by the Lieutenant Governor. The objective of this expanded mandate is to enable TVO to play a larger role in supporting a more coordinated, robust online learning system – one that gives secondary students across Ontario access to quality, teacher-taught online courses no matter where they live or go to school.
This year, the first major milestone was reached, with the development of a business plan (together with Groupe Média TFO), which outlines how we propose to implement an expanded mandate. Our joint TVO/TFO proposal was submitted to the Ministry of Education in December. At the time of writing, this plan is being reviewed by the Ministry and we await their policy direction.
Development of Online Course Packs for Elementary Students – A First for TVO!
This year, TVO was asked by the Ministry of Education to create full sets of course materials for the 2021-22 school year to facilitate learning for Kindergarten through Grade 8 students. This initiative is a first for TVO!
Phase one and two have been submitted to the Ministry, and work is progressing on the remaining seven phases. When complete, the full course pack selection—which includes a teacher guide for each curriculum strand by subject and by grade—will help elementary educators in all 60 English public school boards to deliver a common slate of quality online course content to any student across the province.
TVO Education on Demand
Online Learning Products
TVO is here to support students, educators and parents with free, high-quality resources that help make learning successful, both in the classroom and from home.
TVO Learn
Launched this year, TVO Learn offers comprehensive learning resources to support students, parents and educators with remote learning of the Ontario curriculum. It features curriculum overviews, resources, activities and vocabulary to support Grade 1-8 learning of math, language, science and technology, and social studies. The TVO Learn website also offers a searchable catalogue of 144 Independent Learning Centre (ILC) courses to support study and supplemental learning for secondary school students.
TVO Mathify
An interactive digital learning tool, TVO Mathify offers students in Grade 6-10 live, one to one online math tutoring with an Ontario Certified Teacher. It features an interactive whiteboard where student and tutor can work on problems together. Over 176,000 Ontario students now have a Mathify account. The number of tutoring sessions increased by 43% this year, and the number of questions per student more than doubled. Our offering expanded, too—from serving students in Grades 7-10 to now serving Grades 6-10 and extending our hours of service. We also introduced the Mathify question bank—200 curriculum-based math, financial literacy and coding questions students can tackle independently or with our tutors.
TVO mPower
TVO mPower’s free, creative online games support the development of foundational K-6 math and STEM skills in the classroom and at home. This year, our 246,686 registered users played mPower math games more than 4.5 million times. We made several upgrades, including the creation of one new game, and the introduction of new features to six current games, including enhancements that support new curriculum areas like coding. We also added a financial literacy component that includes printable activity sheets.
TVO in the Classroom
TVO in the Classroom enables educators to easily incorporate in-depth current affairs, thought-provoking documentaries, and award-winning TVOkids content to enhance in-class and remote learning for students in Grades K-12. In 2020-21, TVO in the Classroom added a helpful new search feature, as well as 80 new Grade 7 and 8 resources. More than 10,000 TVO videos, articles and games are available.
TVO ILC
The province’s largest online high school, TVO ILC offered independent learning to more than 22,000 Ontario students in 2020-2021. Rooted in the Ontario Ministry of Education curriculum, ILC courses are available in the Ministry’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and offer students an engaging experience through interactive, multimedia course content. This year, TVO ILC increased service hours for administrative staff in order to offer even more student support. A new more user-friendly ILC website was also launched this year, which streamlines the application, course enrollment and payment process.
A revenue generation opportunity for TVO, TVO ILC continued to pursue international markets in 2020-21. Course enrolment for international direct students (i.e., those enrolling directly with ILC) increased by 73% over the previous year. In addition, five new affiliate partnership agreements were signed this year, for a total of 23 in the following 12 markets: China, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, Vietnam, Nigeria, United Arab Emirates, Libya, and Kenya. As of April 2021, 464 international students enrolled in 763 TVO ILC courses.
TVOkids
With a commitment to quality and diversity, TVOkids gets Ontario kids ready for school and life. Our 65+ programs and 100+ interactive digital games are advertising-free and support the Ontario curriculum. Developed for students from K to Grade 5, our content is built in collaboration with subject matter experts and educational consultants to ensure specific educational objectives are met, and our multiplatform approach ensures young learners can benefit from TVOkids anywhere, any time.
New TVOkids Programs Added in 2020-21
TVO Originals:
16 Hudson "Refugee Special"
ABC Singsong (Season 2)
All-Round Champion (Season 2)
Big Top Academy "Special Edition"
How Do You Feel?
Leo's Fishheads
My Home Life
My Stay-at-Home Diaries
Odd Squad Mobile Unit (Season 2)
Space Kids
Wacky Word Songs
Wolf Joe
Selected Acquisitions:
Jo Jo & Gran Gran
Kit and Pup
Xavier Riddle
Yakka Dee
TVOkids Power Hour of Learning
Launched in April 2020, the TVOkids Power Hour of Learning is a series that supported young learners via broadcast during the pandemic when schools were closed. It complemented TVO’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the bridge between learning in class, online and at home. The series continues to be available on YouTube and the website.
Featuring 10 teachers from boards across the province, Power Hour of Learning engaged students in lessons related to the Ontario curriculum, including language, math, science and technology, and physical education. This year, 44 episodes (21 primary and 23 junior lessons) aired on television broadcast and YouTube.
Diversity in TVOkids Programming
Representation of the many communities that call Ontario home is a priority at TVOkids, which is why we’re proud to present TVO Originals like Wolf Joe, 16 Hudson and many more.
Wolf Joe features young First Nations hero Joe and his three friends who carry out adventures in Ontario’s North.
16 Hudson tells the stories of a group of neighbours who treasure each other's similarities and differences.
16 Hudson - "Welcome" (full episode)
Wolf Joe - "Best Day Ever" (full episode)
Browse the Report:
Broadcast Channels
Cable channel 2 (may vary in some areas); Rogers channel 2; Rogers HD channel 580; Bell Fibe TV HD 1209; Bell Fibe TV SD 209; Bell Fibe TV 265; Shaw Direct 155
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