An Update from the Desk of Owen L. McDermott (M.Ed.)

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 Updates:


I retired at the end of the 2022/2023 school year after having served the TDSB and the EYBE before amalgamation at the turn of the century / millennium for 33 fantastic years!  

I have been pursuing a variety of projects / interests including fitness, travelling, literature, films, podcasts and discovering more about the incredible and daunting advent of artificial intelligence.

Here is a summary of some of my projects outside of the middle school classroom after the last decade:


The Producer and Director of student focused media creation:  Video | Audio | Text


1.  VPtv Media


From 2007 - 2018 I worked with students from Gr. 1 to grade 12 to produce fun and informative videos and podcasts! This school based media initiative saw myself and the "VPtv Reporters" travel from City Hall to Queen's Park!  From the FIRST Robotics of Canada Provincial Championship at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre to the set of CTV's hit show, the Launch!  We shared our television show - VPtv NEWSREELS on Rogers tv Toronto during the Winter / Spring / Summer of 2017.

Finally, we shared content across social media - Twitter, Instagram, Blogger, Soundcloud

Our videos can still be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/@VPtvNow


2.  Toronto Student Media Network (2018 - 2023)


I retired VPtv and moved on to a brand new media endeavour:  Toronto Student Media Network! This  followed in the "community media" format that we used at VPtv.  With TSMN we offered a "volunteer opportunity" which strove to showcase student excellence!  We celebrated and shared "Stories about Students" and "Stories by Students."  In doing so we worked with a number of groups such as Kids to Kids Runway of Hope, CAGIS, MKtv Media, Bookit Talent and a number of FIRST CANADA Robotics Teams. We were proud to work with so many excellent students and indeed their families creating engaging content before, during and after the pandemic including videos, podcasts, and blogs. 

We incorporated emerging ai technologies especially in the ground breaking podcast - Next SCHOOLHOUSE. We shared our stories across a variety of social media apps like Twitter, Instagram, Blogger and Soundcloud.


Youtube URL:  https://www.youtube.com/@torontostudentmedianetwork


Owen McDermott M.Ed.

February 25th, 2024

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