The Future Isn’t What is Used to Be …..

1. The Future Isn’t What is Used to Be ….. 2006 Spirit of the North Conference Northern Region Caucus of the Canadian Federation of Students Thunder Bay, Ontario November 11, 2006 Keynote Presentation      by    Stephen Murgatroyd, PhD          Research Associate, Contact North/Contact Nord www.contactnorth.ca

2. Contact North/Contact Nord thanks Canadian Federation of Students for the opportunity to share some ideas about the future – learning is all of our future. Why not visit the Contact North/Contact Nord Access Centre in your community – details on our website www.contactnorth.ca

3. About Contact North/Contact Nord • A unique collaborative network of 14 educational institutions who partner to deliver quality education and training through distance education throughout Northern Ontario • CN/CN provides the e-learning and support infrastructure in 66 northern communities (with 20 more being added with funding from the Government of Ontario as part of its historic $6.2 billion investment in post-secondary education) • Served some 5,000 individuals in 2005 with a wide range of courses and programs – 600 full and part-time courses • Recognized globally as a leader in synchronous distance education – a leading user of integrated video, audio and web-based learning • Supported by Ontario Ministries of Training, Colleges and Universities and Education • Celebrating its 20th year of operation…. www.contactnorth.ca

4. What This Presentation Looks At.. • Six Challenges facing Canada… • Changing resources with which to tackle these challenges • New roles for learning and organizations • Challenges for students www.contactnorth.ca

5. Six Challenges: #1 Canada’s Economic Challenge… • Economic prosperity in Canada looks to be strong and sustainable. • It will be challenged by: • Shifts in commodity pricing – gas, oil, wood products, minerals and changing demand for products and services • The growth of the Brazilian, Russian, Indian, Chinese and other competing economies (known as the “BRICs” economies) • Slowing of Canada’s competitive position – already in decline • Shifting demographics which will lead to a shift in demand • Low levels of Canadian productivity • Low levels of investment in learning across Canada and by businesses • Technological challenges to dominant industries which will test how “nimble” our firms and organizations are www.contactnorth.ca

6. Six Challenges: #2 Canada’s Poor Record on Innovation • Canada is poor at innovation – now ranked 18th out of 24 in innovation index and 33rd out of 35th in patents/population • Key challenges are: • Poor returns from public sector investments – strong, world class research, poor commercialization • Poor level of investment from private sector in R&D both in terms of their own work and in terms of supporting public R&D • Insufficient number of highly qualified people in the workforce (6.4/10,000 versus 15/10,000 in Finland) • Lack of focus for innovation – we are a small country, we cannot do everything well – we need to find our “spots” and really go for them • Productivity weaknesses mean we need to do much more to encourage the adoption of best practices www.contactnorth.ca

7. Six Challenges: #3 Demographics • Canada is heavily reliant on immigration to sustain our current standard of living – we will need to target immigrant skills, fast track professional accreditation and increase the volumes • Canada is engaged in a “war for talent” with other nations with similar demographic challenges (US, EU) – and we need to do much more to attract and keep this talent – requires investments in communities, arts and culture, health care • Population will age, creating higher costs for social programs (especially health and security) and new challenges for our communities www.contactnorth.ca

8. Six Challenges: #4 Our Aboriginal Strategy • Canada has yet to settle a series of land claims, honour treaty rights, act on agreements reached.. • Aboriginal youth fastest growing demographic sector, other than ageing boomers – if historic trends continue, levels of disaffection could be high… • Aboriginal illness rates 3x those of other Canadians – unacceptable in 21st century – a real challenge for all of us • Aboriginal educational performance is also low relative to their Canadian counterparts www.contactnorth.ca

9. Six Challenges: #5 Environment • Global warming will have an impact on us all, and Canada is facing special challenges: • Canada (especially Alberta) major polluters • Canada has growing water supply issues – already having an impact and is made worse by oil sands projects • Canada has significant issues with a growing number of endangered species • Canada’s “plan” (sic) for environmental stewardship is very weak, no matter who is in government www.contactnorth.ca

10. Six Challenges: #6 The North • Canada’s 36m people (by 2030) will be concentrated in cities in the south… • Northern Ontario currently has some 786,000 people • 103 of the 134 First nations in Ontario are located in Northern Ontario. • Northern Ontario is home to 140,000 francophone individuals – 30% of Ontario’s Francophones live in the north • Population of Northern Ontario will decline from 6% of the Ontario population to 2.1% by 2030 - with a growing % of the population being seniors and aboriginal. A loss of 100,000 persons…with increased costs of social support, education… • Access to post secondary education – already problematic. Today almost 212,000 Northern Ontario residents aged 15 years or older do not have direct access to a college or university campus in their community – this will become more so as institutions struggle with their viability, especially in terms of their “outreach” campus activity www.contactnorth.ca

11. Six Keys To Responding to these Challenges www.contactnorth.ca

12. Six Keys to Our Future… • Learning • Benevolence.. • Culture of Commerce • Action Networks • Technology • Community www.contactnorth.ca

13. Learning • Critical to our collective future is an investment in learning for both public institutions and private enterprise– • How many learners matters • What they are learning matters • How they are learning matters • Grow high school completion, increase post-secondary participation/completion rates, expand accessibility to affordable education • Target 15/10,000 with degrees in science, technology and engineering and 30% of the workforce engaging in a learning activity • See learning as an investment in the socio-economic future of Ontario – strengthen supports, incentives and make it affordable • Leverage technologies to make sure all in Ontario have access, not just some www.contactnorth.ca

14. Benevolent Society • We need to be careful about our culture – when times are tough there is a tendency to look at “me” rather than “us” • Canada has a strong social conscience and sense of benevolence – this will become key, both to the sustainability of our society, but also to the differentiating Canada from many others • Canada also needs a strong arts and humanities base – arts and cultural organizations help keep communities together and the humanities will be key in helping us to connect with and support immigration • Need to grow our instruments of benevolence – non profits, charitable organizations, social giving – and use the power of social networks to support those in greatest need. • In particular, rethinking health care needs to link to a different pattern of funding and benevolence.. www.contactnorth.ca

15. Culture of Commerce • Business is key to our future – we do not have a great culture of commerce in Canada • We need more educational programs focused on the skills of commerce • More encouragement and support for entrepreneurs and risk takers, more opportunities to incubate good ideas • More needs to be done to help sustain and develop business and business networks, especially in rural and remote communities… • Its critical to the future of the north that it finds more commercial opportunities in value added products and services – the Internet makes trading possible from anywhere at anytime.. www.contactnorth.ca

16. Action Networks • Effective change requires effective networks – which in turn require effective infrastructure • Networks like the medical devices network that helps to connect small and medium enterprises throughout Ontario whose work is to build and create devices that support the medical needs of patients • Networks like the Ontario Mining Action Network, which aims to support the use of best practices in mining in terms of efficient and safe mining, support for mining communities and education… • Networks for social change/action, networks for community and economic development, networks to support learning – all are key to our different future – they are a means of ensuring that knowledge moves quickly amongst communities of interest and communities of practice • We need to build future focused networks to help shape the future and we need to think about “community centric” networks – e-networks which use learning technologies to support social change are powerful … www.contactnorth.ca

17. Technology • Technology will change rapidly – semantic web, robotics, “devices” not just computers • Technology will transform health and education, as well as commerce – if we provide the basic infrastructure and support the continuous development of skills and competencies • We need to embrace technology, deal head on with the ethical issues it gives rise to and challenge our institutions to adopt and adapt to the possibilities that technology brings • See technology as an opportunity to enhance quality… www.contactnorth.ca

18. Community • Margaret Thatcher famously said “there is no such thing as community”. We need to prove her wrong. • As the north “shrinks” we need to strengthen community through simple devices: • Support for local schools and local health services • Support local stores that also become service centres • Support distance education in the community • Challenge the community to be a network that cares for all • Look for cultural and arts opportunities within communities – they act to strengthen the spirit of communities www.contactnorth.ca

19. “What does this all mean for education, educational institutions and students?” “Big” Ideas for Change www.contactnorth.ca

20. Some Radical Ideas • Make the north the home of the “biggest” broadband pipeline – channel Internet-based businesses, services, e-government and e-learning in the north in such a way as to pioneer new methods, based on advanced technologies. See e-learning as the norm, not “oh also..” • Use educational institutions as business and social incubators for innovation - spur innovation in value added forestry, mining and agricultural sectors - stimulate rurally located entrepreneurship (“ruralpreneurship) www.contactnorth.ca

21. Change how we teach-learn - focus less on “content” and more on processes for learning, problem solving, networking – challenge learners to solve real problems, X Prize for College and University.. • Commit to a radical new approach to aboriginal learning – learning circles involving students, elders and teachers partnering to learn in a different way – using stories, new learning technologies and gaming… • Commit to educational institutions being a part of the culture of commerce – reward, encourage and enable “edupreneurship” by the institutions, groups within the institution and students… www.contactnorth.ca

22. Think global – develop learning passports which connects the north to global distance learning networks…bring world’s the best to Timmins, Thunder Bay, Moosonee • Look at credit for work-based learning – build on the investments people make in their development and recognize credit where credit is due.. www.contactnorth.ca

23. Make learning affordable – offer solutions to the “affordability” issue by providing fast track routes to degrees (shorter = less expensive, no loss of quality), different kinds of financial support and incentives for skill development – see learning as an investment, not a cost • Don’t define quality as “abstract standards” - but do so in terms of “fitness for use” • Keep the successful immigrant graduates in Canada – offer citizenship to those who obtain a PhD in Canada.. www.contactnorth.ca

24. What Does All This Mean for You? www.contactnorth.ca

25. Six Implications for Students.. • Look seriously at the future – become a futurist - don’t believe all that you read or hear, find out – you have the skills.. • Study what other jurisdictions are doing differently and successfully – take a close look at Finland, UK, Singapore.. Adopt a jurisdiction and really get to know it.. • Pick an industry sector that is key to our future and get to know it – whatever it is, start to track trends and patterns…bio-energy, fuel cells, nanotechnology, gaming technology… • Pick a northern community that you don’t come from, and get to know it – its dynamics, challenges, trends, culture – listen, understand, learn… • You are already involved in one action network (CFS) – look at another and see what you can learn from them – learn how networks work, develop best practices • Look systematically at alternative models of education, learning and training – ask yourself what the combination of technology and a different kind if relationship with an “instructor” could do to make education accessible, affordable while at the same time improving quality.. www.contactnorth.ca

26. A Challenge for the CFS • What is the CFS position on access, affordability and learning systems for individuals in northern communities that do not have direct access to a campus? • Policy / position on remote access and distance education • Policy / position on affordability, incentives and access • Policy / position on technology support for remote communities and broadband networks • Policy / position on quality and distance education www.contactnorth.ca

27. “When you come to a fork in the road – take it..” Yogi Berra Actions speak louder than words.. www.contactnorth.ca

28. www.contactnorth.ca