Educator Liz Halina hopes every teacher in the province can enjoy a stress-free, organized and engaging school year.
Halina, who grew up in Selkirk, is a Nelson Educator and Classroom Success Specialist. She is passionate about supporting fellow teachers and sharing the benefits of Edwin — Nelson’s online platform that offers curriculum-based lessons and resources designed for Canadian educators.
“I can’t even begin to count how many resources there are,” she said. “The possibilities are nearly endless.”
In Manitoba, Edwin provides curriculum-aligned content for core subjects from grades 2 through 10, including newly developed material supporting the recently updated provincial science curriculum. Halina said the update was long overdue.
“Manitoba put in a lot of work and collaboration into creating this curriculum. The most important thing is that it encourages students to explore the world and themselves — questioning, experiencing and connecting with information, rather than just memorizing facts and figures,” she said. “It allows students to engage with topics on a personal, social, political and economic level. It gives them a voice and helps develop agency, guiding their decisions both inside and outside the classroom.”
While adapting to a new curriculum can be challenging, Edwin is designed to ease the transition by offering comprehensive lessons, interactive activities, videos, planning tools, assessment resources and learning supports. The content is cross-curricular, often bridging multiple subjects.
“Yes, it’s about science,” Halina explained, “but it’s also about understanding different ways of life. Through communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, citizenship and connecting to self — the six global competencies — students are able to live the good life, or Mino-Pimatisiwin.”
Edwin’s content is created by a team of education professionals who consult with local experts for insight and perspective. Content is added regularly, and the team incorporates user feedback when developing new material. Teachers can customize lessons to fit their students’ needs, save notes, organize small-group activities and track progress.
In the 2024–25 school year, the most accessed collection was Toward Reconciliation, highlighting the platform’s responsiveness to user requests.
“With Edwin, you no longer need to lug out that massive binder full of worksheets, answer keys and assessment pages. Everything is right on the website, and you can access your account whenever you are connected to the internet. Students just need a teacher’s personalized link to join their dashboard — their class — and they are able to engage with the content.”
Halina’s favourite features include the “Self-Check” tool and a wide range of built-in resources such as graphing and scientific calculators, fraction tiles, digital whiteboards and number blocks.
“It’s more than just a static page,” she said. “It makes it easier for teachers who are overworked and overburdened — anything you can do to make their lives easier is a win for us all. I really wish I had something like this when I was teaching full time in the classroom.”
User feedback shows both teachers and students find Edwin easy to use and student-friendly. They also value lessons on current topics such as the spring wildfires and the upcoming National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
“These are things that are affecting students right now in their daily lives. It is important for teachers to address things that are currently happening, and it is important that they have access to these educational resources,” Halina said. “We are giving students the chance to come up with creative solutions to the challenges we are facing right now. There are challenges rising on the horizon, and students are going to be the ones who come up with these solutions.”
School divisions or individual schools can visit www.edwin.app to request a free demo and quote for full access. Once registered, educators may enrol in Edwin Academy, a self-directed learning program, or participate in one of Edwin’s 20-minute professional development sessions.
Edwin also offers free virtual lessons for teachers across Canada on topics such as Terry Fox and Truth and Reconciliation in September. Teachers can register their classes for live events at www.edwin.app/edwin-academy-live.
“Edwin is here to make lives easier, and we cannot wait for teachers to enrol,” Halina added.
