Bill Belsey
Encyclopedia
For Bill Belsey the politician, look at the bottom of this article.
Bill Belsey is a Canadian
educator, who has made many important contributions to education.
Bill Belsey’s teaching career has included living and working with the Inuit of Canada’s Arctic for eighteen years, where in 1983 he introduced the very first computer into Canadian Arctic schools at Qitiqliq School. He taught the Logo computer programming language to his Inuit students in Arviat, Nunavut. He worked with Inuit translators Barbara Beveridge and Joe Patterk to develop and create the first translations of computer systems into the Inuktitut language.
In 1993, he created and launched a Website for the Leo Ussak Elementary School, a Website that many considered to have been one of the very first school Websites in Canada.
In 1995, he worked with community stakeholders in the Canadian Arctic community of Rankin Inlet to create, “Igalaaq” -Inuktitut for window, the first Community Access Centre in the Canadian Arctic, which helped to provide public access to a centre offering free Internet access using (then) state-of-the-art information and communication technologies, see http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/igalaaq.pdf. This pioneering work was honoured with the Royal Bank and Conference Board of Canada's National Partners in Education Award.
In 1997 Mr. Belsey was invited to work with Dr. Seymour Papert and Nicholas Negroponte at the world-famous M.I.T. Media Lab to work on issues re. the innovative use of ICTs to support teaching and learning as a part of the "2B1" iniative.
He was asked by CIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency and the World Bank to present his thoughts and his work at the Global Knowledge '97 conference in Toronto on the topic of “Universal Access to Information and Communication Technologies”, see http://www.inukshuk.com/gk-97.html. At this conference, former World Bank President, Mr. James Wolfenson, praised the impact of this work. He has also been an advisor to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the U.S. Peace corps. His pioneering work has been featured at an exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Civilization as one of Canada's "Global Heroes".
He is a winner of the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Technology. He is also a recipient of the Royal Bank Fellowship from the Mathematics, Science and
Technology Group at Queen's University and the Roy C. Hill Fellowship for Innovations in Education. He has been named as a finalist for the annual Canadian New Media “Educator of the Year” Award. He has also been chosen to be a recipient of the prestigious CANARIE IWAY Awards (IWAY is short for Information Highway). These awards honour Canadians who have made outstanding contributions to Canada’s world-recognized information society – celebrating innovators behind Canada's advanced broadband development and use.
From 1999 until 2003, he was a Senior Educational Advisor for Canada's SchoolNet and was Coordinator for Canada's National Network of Innovative Schools (NIS).
For nearly a decade, Mr. Belsey was the volunteer Executive Director for iEARN-Canada, the Canadian chapter of iEARN, the International Education and Resource Network, see www.iearn.org. iEARN is the world’s largest and most-experienced K-12 professional learning community with over three million members in over 120 countries who share the vision of “Connecting Youth and Making a Difference” by working on international collaborative projects using information and communications technologies.
He is the founder and President of Bullying.org Canada Incorporated, an educational organization that is dedicated to the prevention of bullying through education and awareness.
One of his projects, http://www.bullying.org, was honoured with the Cable and Wireless ChildNet Award, which goes to projects that make the Internet a better and safer place for children. This project was also named as a finalist in the Stockholm Challenge Awards, an award that has been called the Nobel Prize of the Information Technology (IT) world. http://www.bullying.org is often listed as one of the top bullying-referenced Websites in the world.
Mr. Belsey also created http://www.cyberbullying.ca, thought by many to be the first Website in the world to address the issue of cyberbullying. He is often cited as the first person to use the word and define the behaviour “cyberbullying”.
In 2002, Mr. Belsey conceived of, and helps to coordinate Canada’s annual National Bullying Awareness Week, see http://www.bullyingawarenessweek.org
In 2004, Mr. Belsey was honoured as Cochrane, Alberta’s “Ambassador of the Year”.
He created the award-winning http://www.childsoldiers.org, (no longer online) that helped to raise global awareness about the issue of child soldiers with stories, artwork and multimedia exposés from youth who have been affected by war.
Mr. Belsey and his students collaborated with Palestinian students in Jerusalem and Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan to address the question, “How do you see peace?” Their online collaboration can be viewed online at http://www.seeingpeace.net.
Mr. Belsey and his grade five students collaborated with High School students at Gabarone Secondary School in Gabarone, Botswana to collaborate and create www.net4nets.net, a project that serves to raise awareness about the issue of Malaria and its affects on children. Mr. Belsey’s students raised funds to purchase mosquito bednets for families in Botswana that were later delivered by their partner students at Gabarone Secondary School see http://www.net4nets.net.
In June 2005, Mr. Belsey was also asked to share his work about bullying and cyberbullying with the United Nations International Research Study on Violence and Children in Bangkok.
See http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/irc/newsdesk_articles.asp?SCID=1625
Mr. Belsey has been interviewed by the late Peter Gzowksi on CBC Radio’s national “Morningside” radio show and has also appeared numerous times on the CTV and CBC National News. He has been a consultant to “The Dr. Phil Show”, ABC News 20/20 with Diane Sawyer, CNN –Anderson Cooper AC360 and was also asked to offer his input into the United National International Research Study in Bangkok on Violence and Children. His print interviews have appeared in Parenting Magazine, the Globe and Mail, and the Christian Science Monitor. In an interview with Mr. Belsey on CBC TV’s “The National”, Peter Mansbridge referred to http://www.bullying.org as “One of the best Web sites in the world for children”.
In May 2006, Mr. Belsey received Canada’s National Technology Innovations Award from The Learning Partnership and his presentation “Change the World 101” was given the “Conference Award” as the most outstanding work presented during the entire gathering. See http://www.thelearningpartnership.ca/NTIA/NTIA_2006_I&L_conference_awarddinner.htm
In October 2006, Mr. Belsey was named as a Fellow of the World Technology Network in the Education category at a gala event at San Francisco’s City Hall. At this same ceremony, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore was inducted as a Fellow in the Environment category and Tim Burners-Lee, one of the co-creators of the World Wide Web, was honoured in the Internet category. See http://www.wtn.net
In September 2007 he launched Canada’s very first online courses and Webinars about bullying and cyberbullying for parents and educators at http://www.bullyingcourse.com. Mr. Belsey has created a partnership with Colombia’s CES University. As a result of this collaboration, his “E101 –An Introduction to Bullying for Educators” online course will be offered to educators around the world in Spanish in the Fall of 2010.
In November 2007 he was nominated for the YMCA Peace Medal.
In June 2010, he began to create and offer free online learning courses for educators and students at http://www.wecanlearnonline.com
Mr. Belsey now lives in Cochrane, Alberta, with his wife, Helene (also a teacher), and two teenage children. He currently teaches grade five at Springbank Middle School for the Rockyview School Division. To check out his students’ innovative work, do a Google search for “Canada’s Coolest Class” then click on “I’m feeling lucky”, you will be directed to http://www.coolclass.ca.
He is a much sought-after speaker and presenter on the topics of bullying, cyberbullying, cyberparenting, technology integration, innovation, community development and global education. He has presented at many conferences around the world.
A different Bill Belsey (not related to the former) is a Canadian
politician, who represented the electoral district of North Coast
in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
from 2001 to 2005. He sat as a member of the BC Liberal Party.
|New Democrat
|Gary Coons
|align="right"|5,845
|align="right"|53.77%
|align="right"|
|-
| style="width: 130px" |BC Liberal
|Bill Belsey
|align="right"|4,185
|align="right"|38.50%
|align="right"|
|Green
|Hondo Arendt
|align="right"|629
|align="right"|5.79%
|align="right"|
|Marijuana
|David Johns
|align="right"|211
|align="right"|1.94%
|align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="left" colspan=3|Total
!align="right"|10,870
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|
|}
|-
| style="width: 130px" |BC Liberal
|Bill Belsey
|align="right"|4,915
|align="right"|45.25%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$51,617
|-
|New Democrat
|Colleen Fitzpatrick
|align="right"|4,084
|align="right"|37.61%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$28,479
|Marijuana
|Kenneth Leonard Peerless
|align="right"|623
|align="right"|5.74%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$1,840
|Green
|David Konsmo
|align="right"|560
|align="right"|5.16%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$152
|All Nations
|Emsily Victor Bolton
|align="right"|526
|align="right"|4.84%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$8,371
|Unity
|Clarence Hall
|align="right"|152
|align="right"|1.40%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$730
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total valid votes
!align="right"|10,860
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total rejected ballots
!align="right"|46
!align="right"|0.42%
!align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
!align="right"|10,906
!align="right"|66.27%
!align="right"|
|}
Bill Belsey is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
educator, who has made many important contributions to education.
Bill Belsey’s teaching career has included living and working with the Inuit of Canada’s Arctic for eighteen years, where in 1983 he introduced the very first computer into Canadian Arctic schools at Qitiqliq School. He taught the Logo computer programming language to his Inuit students in Arviat, Nunavut. He worked with Inuit translators Barbara Beveridge and Joe Patterk to develop and create the first translations of computer systems into the Inuktitut language.
In 1993, he created and launched a Website for the Leo Ussak Elementary School, a Website that many considered to have been one of the very first school Websites in Canada.
In 1995, he worked with community stakeholders in the Canadian Arctic community of Rankin Inlet to create, “Igalaaq” -Inuktitut for window, the first Community Access Centre in the Canadian Arctic, which helped to provide public access to a centre offering free Internet access using (then) state-of-the-art information and communication technologies, see http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/igalaaq.pdf. This pioneering work was honoured with the Royal Bank and Conference Board of Canada's National Partners in Education Award.
In 1997 Mr. Belsey was invited to work with Dr. Seymour Papert and Nicholas Negroponte at the world-famous M.I.T. Media Lab to work on issues re. the innovative use of ICTs to support teaching and learning as a part of the "2B1" iniative.
He was asked by CIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency and the World Bank to present his thoughts and his work at the Global Knowledge '97 conference in Toronto on the topic of “Universal Access to Information and Communication Technologies”, see http://www.inukshuk.com/gk-97.html. At this conference, former World Bank President, Mr. James Wolfenson, praised the impact of this work. He has also been an advisor to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the U.S. Peace corps. His pioneering work has been featured at an exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Civilization as one of Canada's "Global Heroes".
He is a winner of the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Technology. He is also a recipient of the Royal Bank Fellowship from the Mathematics, Science and
Technology Group at Queen's University and the Roy C. Hill Fellowship for Innovations in Education. He has been named as a finalist for the annual Canadian New Media “Educator of the Year” Award. He has also been chosen to be a recipient of the prestigious CANARIE IWAY Awards (IWAY is short for Information Highway). These awards honour Canadians who have made outstanding contributions to Canada’s world-recognized information society – celebrating innovators behind Canada's advanced broadband development and use.
From 1999 until 2003, he was a Senior Educational Advisor for Canada's SchoolNet and was Coordinator for Canada's National Network of Innovative Schools (NIS).
For nearly a decade, Mr. Belsey was the volunteer Executive Director for iEARN-Canada, the Canadian chapter of iEARN, the International Education and Resource Network, see www.iearn.org. iEARN is the world’s largest and most-experienced K-12 professional learning community with over three million members in over 120 countries who share the vision of “Connecting Youth and Making a Difference” by working on international collaborative projects using information and communications technologies.
He is the founder and President of Bullying.org Canada Incorporated, an educational organization that is dedicated to the prevention of bullying through education and awareness.
One of his projects, http://www.bullying.org, was honoured with the Cable and Wireless ChildNet Award, which goes to projects that make the Internet a better and safer place for children. This project was also named as a finalist in the Stockholm Challenge Awards, an award that has been called the Nobel Prize of the Information Technology (IT) world. http://www.bullying.org is often listed as one of the top bullying-referenced Websites in the world.
Mr. Belsey also created http://www.cyberbullying.ca, thought by many to be the first Website in the world to address the issue of cyberbullying. He is often cited as the first person to use the word and define the behaviour “cyberbullying”.
In 2002, Mr. Belsey conceived of, and helps to coordinate Canada’s annual National Bullying Awareness Week, see http://www.bullyingawarenessweek.org
In 2004, Mr. Belsey was honoured as Cochrane, Alberta’s “Ambassador of the Year”.
He created the award-winning http://www.childsoldiers.org, (no longer online) that helped to raise global awareness about the issue of child soldiers with stories, artwork and multimedia exposés from youth who have been affected by war.
Mr. Belsey and his students collaborated with Palestinian students in Jerusalem and Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan to address the question, “How do you see peace?” Their online collaboration can be viewed online at http://www.seeingpeace.net.
Mr. Belsey and his grade five students collaborated with High School students at Gabarone Secondary School in Gabarone, Botswana to collaborate and create www.net4nets.net, a project that serves to raise awareness about the issue of Malaria and its affects on children. Mr. Belsey’s students raised funds to purchase mosquito bednets for families in Botswana that were later delivered by their partner students at Gabarone Secondary School see http://www.net4nets.net.
In June 2005, Mr. Belsey was also asked to share his work about bullying and cyberbullying with the United Nations International Research Study on Violence and Children in Bangkok.
See http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/irc/newsdesk_articles.asp?SCID=1625
Mr. Belsey has been interviewed by the late Peter Gzowksi on CBC Radio’s national “Morningside” radio show and has also appeared numerous times on the CTV and CBC National News. He has been a consultant to “The Dr. Phil Show”, ABC News 20/20 with Diane Sawyer, CNN –Anderson Cooper AC360 and was also asked to offer his input into the United National International Research Study in Bangkok on Violence and Children. His print interviews have appeared in Parenting Magazine, the Globe and Mail, and the Christian Science Monitor. In an interview with Mr. Belsey on CBC TV’s “The National”, Peter Mansbridge referred to http://www.bullying.org as “One of the best Web sites in the world for children”.
In May 2006, Mr. Belsey received Canada’s National Technology Innovations Award from The Learning Partnership and his presentation “Change the World 101” was given the “Conference Award” as the most outstanding work presented during the entire gathering. See http://www.thelearningpartnership.ca/NTIA/NTIA_2006_I&L_conference_awarddinner.htm
In October 2006, Mr. Belsey was named as a Fellow of the World Technology Network in the Education category at a gala event at San Francisco’s City Hall. At this same ceremony, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore was inducted as a Fellow in the Environment category and Tim Burners-Lee, one of the co-creators of the World Wide Web, was honoured in the Internet category. See http://www.wtn.net
In September 2007 he launched Canada’s very first online courses and Webinars about bullying and cyberbullying for parents and educators at http://www.bullyingcourse.com. Mr. Belsey has created a partnership with Colombia’s CES University. As a result of this collaboration, his “E101 –An Introduction to Bullying for Educators” online course will be offered to educators around the world in Spanish in the Fall of 2010.
In November 2007 he was nominated for the YMCA Peace Medal.
In June 2010, he began to create and offer free online learning courses for educators and students at http://www.wecanlearnonline.com
Mr. Belsey now lives in Cochrane, Alberta, with his wife, Helene (also a teacher), and two teenage children. He currently teaches grade five at Springbank Middle School for the Rockyview School Division. To check out his students’ innovative work, do a Google search for “Canada’s Coolest Class” then click on “I’m feeling lucky”, you will be directed to http://www.coolclass.ca.
He is a much sought-after speaker and presenter on the topics of bullying, cyberbullying, cyberparenting, technology integration, innovation, community development and global education. He has presented at many conferences around the world.
External links
- further information about Mr. Belsey
- Billbelsey.com -Mr. Belsey's personal blog
- Inukshuk.com -Mr. Belsey's personal Website
- Coolclass.ca -Mr. Belsey's class Website
- Bullying.org "Where you are NOT alone!" -Mr. Belsey's often visited and referenced anti-bullying Website
- Cyberbullying.ca -Otfen cited as offering the first formal definition of "cyberbullying"
- Bullyingawarenessweek.org -The official Website of Annual Bullying Awareness Week
- Bullyingcourse.com -Mr. Belsey's professional online courses and Webinars about bullying and cyberbullying for eduactors and parents
- Thefutureoffriendship.org -Mr. Belsey's blog about the effects that technology is having on human relationships
A different Bill Belsey (not related to the former) is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician, who represented the electoral district of North Coast
North Coast (provincial electoral district)
North Coast is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created by 1990 legislation which came into effect for the 1991 B.C. election, largely out of the previous riding of Prince Rupert....
in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....
from 2001 to 2005. He sat as a member of the BC Liberal Party.
Electoral record
|-|New Democrat
New Democratic Party of British Columbia
The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...
|Gary Coons
Gary Coons
Gary Earl Coons is the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the North Coast riding of British Columbia, Canada....
|align="right"|5,845
|align="right"|53.77%
|align="right"|
|-
| style="width: 130px" |BC Liberal
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
|Bill Belsey
|align="right"|4,185
|align="right"|38.50%
|align="right"|
|Green
Green Party of British Columbia
The Green Party of British Columbia is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is led by former Esquimalt municipal councillor, university professor and businessperson Jane Sterk, she was elected by the party in 2007. Penticton realtor and columnist Julius Bloomfield serves as the deputy...
|Hondo Arendt
|align="right"|629
|align="right"|5.79%
|align="right"|
|Marijuana
British Columbia Marijuana Party
The British Columbia Marijuana Party is a minor political party in the Canadian province of British Columbia that advocates the legalisation of cannabis....
|David Johns
|align="right"|211
|align="right"|1.94%
|align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="left" colspan=3|Total
!align="right"|10,870
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|
|}
|-
| style="width: 130px" |BC Liberal
British Columbia Liberal Party
The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...
|Bill Belsey
|align="right"|4,915
|align="right"|45.25%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$51,617
|-
|New Democrat
New Democratic Party of British Columbia
The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...
|Colleen Fitzpatrick
|align="right"|4,084
|align="right"|37.61%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$28,479
|Marijuana
British Columbia Marijuana Party
The British Columbia Marijuana Party is a minor political party in the Canadian province of British Columbia that advocates the legalisation of cannabis....
|Kenneth Leonard Peerless
|align="right"|623
|align="right"|5.74%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$1,840
|Green
Green Party of British Columbia
The Green Party of British Columbia is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is led by former Esquimalt municipal councillor, university professor and businessperson Jane Sterk, she was elected by the party in 2007. Penticton realtor and columnist Julius Bloomfield serves as the deputy...
|David Konsmo
|align="right"|560
|align="right"|5.16%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$152
|All Nations
All Nations Party of British Columbia
The All Nations Party was a minor political party in British Columbia, Canada. Its primary base of support was the First Nations aboriginal peoples of Canada....
|Emsily Victor Bolton
|align="right"|526
|align="right"|4.84%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$8,371
|Unity
|Clarence Hall
|align="right"|152
|align="right"|1.40%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$730
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total valid votes
!align="right"|10,860
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total rejected ballots
!align="right"|46
!align="right"|0.42%
!align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
!align="right"|10,906
!align="right"|66.27%
!align="right"|
|}