[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Bassett.Isabel-opt.jpg” caption=”Isabel Bassett”]McMaster's communication studies program is hosting a guest lecture by TVOntario chair Isabel Bassett on Wednesday, March 24.

Bassett, who is chair and CEO of TVOntario, has an extensive background in broadcast journalism, teaching and public service. She was first appointed to her position at TVOntario in 1999 and reappointed for another three-year term in 2002. Her career includes more than 20 years in journalism, including seven years as host reporter for CFTO's Hourlong. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in June 1995 and in 1997 was appointed minister of citizenship, culture and recreation.

She will be giving a lecture entitled TVOntario: Providing Education through Communications to students in the Developments in Human Communication: Past and Present course, taught by Laurence Mussio. Her presentation will include an overview of the history of educational broadcasting and the impact of technology on education.

The Ontario Educational Communications Authority (TVO) offers three distinct services delivering learning on air, online and in print: the English-language network known as TVO, the French-language network called TFO and the Independent Learning Centre (ILC), which offers numerous distance education programs.

TVOntario's ILC is the largest high school in Ontario, offering courses in English and French to 22,000 Ontario students annually. As well, eight post secondary online education courses are funded through TVOntario's Life Long Learning Challenge Fund. McMaster works in partnership with TVOntario, IBM and Bell to offer one of these courses online, E-commerce for Small Business, through the DeGroote School of Business. TVOntario also offers University Television (UTVO), an initiative involving about 20 on-air adult programs required or recommended for Ontario university or college curriculums.

McMaster University, one of Canada's leading research-intensive universities, has world-renowned faculty and state-of-the-art research facilities. McMaster's culture of innovation fosters a commitment to discovery and learning in teaching, research and scholarship. Based in Hamilton, the University has a student population of more than 20,000 and more than 112,000 alumni in 128 countries around the world.

The lecture will take place in the Temporary Building, T-28 (located on the southeast tennis court, west of the Ivor Wynne Centre) at 4:30 p.m.