Skip to main content
ARTICLE

ETFO.ca : Growing to Meet Our Members' Needs

Stephen Mau
December 2008

Tags

From its inception, ETFO embraced the use of the Web to improve service delivery to members. ETFO and its predecessors were pioneers among service  organizations  in  using  the Internet to communicate with members.

The World Wide Web was created in 1992, and by the mid-1990s it had gained widespread use. Both  of  the  organizations that  predated ETFO  –  the  Federation  of  Women  Teachers’ Associations  of  Ontario   (FWTAO)   and  the Ontario  Public  School  Teachers’  Federation (OPSTF)  –  had  websites  by  the   mid-1990s. When ETFO was formed in 1998, its Web presence built on these pre-existing sites.

ETFO’s use of Web technologies has evolved in two ways that mirror the development of the  World  Wide  Web  itself.  First,  there  has been a marked growth in both the amount and sophistication of content available to members. And secondly, ETFO’s presence on the Web has evolved from a one-way mode of communication  into  an  interactive platform  that  allows members to  communicate not only with the federation but with each other as they collaborate and share knowledge online.

ETFO’s public  website,  etfo.ca, has  undergone two redesigns in the past decade. It began as a basic site with text and graphics produced by provincial office staff, and updated by a website design company. A few years later, the site was redesigned so that staff at provincial office could update it themselves. This greatly improved the timeliness of website communications. Added to the site’s text and graphics were the first interactive elements:

  • shopETFO began as an online order system for ETFO products and teacher resources, and evolved into a full-service store with online credit card processing.
  • Members were able to complete their annual learning plans  (ALPs) using an interactive form.
  • The “Fax Your MPP” tool allowed members to send a protest fax to their provincial member of parliament directly from the website.

In the early years, member demand for document sharing and online collaboration also led to the development  of a number of secure (password-protected) websites.

The development of  Secure Services provided the ETFO executive and local presidents with a site that gave  them secure access to provincial office documents; but they had no means of contributing their own content.

Two early examples of  secure websites supported online collaboration. The Equity Network site allowed a community of ETFO members to collaborate, communicate, and share content online. The Reflections on  Practice  site  helped  deliver  a  comprehensive,  blended  model  of professional development for women teachers, providing coaching and mentoring through both face-to-face sessions and an online community of practice.

The latest iteration of ETFO’s public website was released in June 2007 on a platform that improves our ability to manage content and provides up-to-date communications tools such as RSS feeds, podcasts, webcasts, online forms, surveys, a campaign tool, and databases that allow users to search, sort, and filter content in many different ways.

This new platform has enabled provincial office staff to deliver more sophisticated content to members, and allowed members to contribute content of their own.

  • The eNewsletter – @ETFO/FEEO – replaced two paper newsletters, Link and Women’s Issues. Members can subscribe at etfo.ca>Publications>@ETFO/FEEO eNewsletter.
  • protectourkids.ca allows members to take part in the Protect Our Kids campaign by sending protest e-mails and signing an online petition opposing the Upper Canada District School Board’s plan to transfer students in grades 7 and 8  to secondary schools.
  • At etfo.ca>Multimedia members can access streaming webcasts, a podcast feed, annotated photo albums, and regular video addresses from ETFO’s president.
  • etfo.ca>Resources>For Teachers lets members search, sort and filter content in many different ways.
  • The online questionnaire that members can fill out on the School Effectiveness Framework (SEF) page (etfo.ca>Advice For Members>The School Effectiveness Framework) sends their feedback on the SEF process automatically to ETFO and to the Ministry of Education.

The platform that forms the basis for ETFO’s current website is an enterprise portal that allows staff to quickly create secure websites for their own use and for external communities of members or partners. These sites provide users with a variety of sophisticated tools such as document libraries, customizable lists, online forms, discussion forums, chat rooms, blogs, calendars, and surveys.

If  you  visit  the  directory at  etfo.ca>Team Sites  you’ll  notice  a  proliferation  of  online communities for a variety of groups. Members from across the province involved in ETFO PD programs, communities, or writing projects can now expect to be supported by  a  website that will enable them to collaborate, communicate, and create in a secure online environment.

Clearly,  ETFO’s  website  technology  has come a long way in a decade. ETFO has invested not only in infrastructure, but also in staff committed to using the new technologies to provide ever-increasing levels of  service to  members: more electronic content, and more opportunities for members to interact with their  union and their colleagues across the province.