E-Learning: The Canadian Experience

1. E-Learning: The Canadian Experience SOMECE 2005 Hermosillo Sonora October 1st - 5th 2005 Universidad de Sonora, Sonora, Mexico Presented by: Ethel Thayer Education Consultant Burlington, Ontario, Canada ethayer@ilap.com

2. If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to keep getting what we’re gettingSteven Covey

3. Partnerships – • Essential for speedy implementation • Federal, Provincial and Territorial governments • Private Sector • Communications and Telco sectors • Content providers, learnware, software etc. • Public Sector • Education Ministries CMEC, Government ministries • Teachers’ Colleges, Teachers’ Associations • Parents and the Community • Volunteer Sector

4. Infrastructure – • CA*net4 evolved from CA*net3, the world’s first national optical internet research and education network. • Interconnects the provincial research networks and through them universities, research centres, government research, laboratories, schools, and other eligible sites with each other and with international peer networks. • Northern and Rural Broadband, Regional Networks http://www.broadband.gc.ca

7. Infrastructure –cont’d • Important to have: • Universal accessibility • Equity of access • Community Access Programs • Affordable accessible Internet access • Over 9,300 across Canada • Over 4,500 in cities across Canada • Education • Faster is better • Wiring schools • Wireless solutions • Service providers • Broadband access

8. Low Tech and other Solutions – • Off-line web readers • eg. Web Whacker • Computers at home • Have students with on-line access do the research • Teachers with access to e-mail • Helps students communicate with other classrooms • Travelling computer lab/bus • Professional development and student access

9. Technology in the Schools – • Buy or lease? • Platform? • Memory? • Desktop or Laptop? • Computer labs, computers in classrooms, cyberpods, networking v.s. stand alone? • Service and maintenance • Computers available to all grade levels • Multimedia equipment • Digital cameras, scanners, internet cameras, computer projectors, wjiteboards, card readers, web authoring tools/software

10. Computers for Schools Program • Providing the power to empower • Computers are free and delivered in partnership with the private sector. Program began in 1993 as a partnership between Industry Canada and the Telecom Pioneers • To date, over 650,000 refurbished computers distributed to schools, libraries and Community Access Programs. Currently delivering 80,000 computers per year from over 50 refurbishing centres • Filled the gap in schools that could not afford computers • Started as a federal program, refurbishing centres are now provincial NGOs with Federal support • Social Inclusion programs are part of the model http://www.schoolnet.ca/cfs-ope/

11. The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn Alvin Toffler

12. E-Literacy and E-Learning – • Learners need to have both skill sets • E-Literacy indicates learners can operate hardware, use software and peripherals, access and navigate the Internet • E-Learning is the use of technology to enhance and enrich the learning process and experience • E-learning is the process created by combining digital content with learning support and services

13. E-Learning – • Canada ranked 2nd in e-learning preparedness in 2003 (Sweden was 1st) • Criteria: • High IT penetration • Strong education systems • Free markets • Governments, citizens and businesses that have embraced technology on a cultural level • E-learning readiness indicates a country’s ability to produce, use and expand Internet-based learning, both formal and informal, at work, at school, in government and throughout society. Source: Economist Intelligence unit and IBM, 2003 • All Canada’s schools connected by March 31st, 1999

14. Changes in Pedagogy – • New emphasis on ‘learning how to learn’ - acquiring a generic skill set because what is known may change • Emphasis on life-long learning • A shift from teaching to learning - process is as important as content • Emphasis on ‘Higher Order Thinking Skills’ - the HOTS v.s. ‘Lower Order Thinking Skills’ - LOTS

15. If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day, if you teach him how to fish, he eats for a lifetime

16. Changes in Pedagogy cont’d – • A new culture for learners, one of - • Inclusion: no age, ability, religious, cultural or geographic barriers • Free Expression: ability to express views freely • Strong views: required to consider and evaluate carefully • Innovation: medium for boundless creativity • Investigation: research, inquiry, discovery • Immediacy: 24/7 - accessible anytime anywhere

17. Changes in Pedagogycont’d – • New emphasis on: • Information accessing and processing skills • Communication skills • Thinking Skills: eg. critical thinking, problem solving, logic, decision making, lateral/vertical thinking, divergent and convergent thinking, analysis, creative thinking • Risk taking • Inquiry/discovery • These generic and cognitive skills contribute to: • The development of the knowledge base • The application of skills and knowledge • The transfer of the knowledge and skills to new situations and experiences - *learning to learn

18. Albert Einstein was monitoring an exam for graduate physics students and was told there was a problem because the questions on the exam were the same as on the previous year’s test. “That’s okay,” he replied, “the answers are different this year.”

19. ICT and Curriculum – • Curriculum/learning content review based on new tools, strategies and models for learning • Sage on the stage v.s. guide on the side • Content v.s. process • New skills sets for a new economy • Communication skills • Individual skills • Group skills • Presentation skills • Cognitive skill sets • Analysis • Synthesis/creative thinking skills • Evaluation/critical thinking skills • Problem-solving skills • Decision making skills • Logical thinking skills

20. The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them Steven Covey

21. ICTs have helped education shift – • From sequential learning to hypermedia learning (assimilation) • From constructive learning to discovery/inquiry learning • From whole class learning to customized, differentiated, self-paced learning • From memorizing to learning how to learn, synthesizing data • From passive learning to collaborative, interactive learning

22. Cont’d – • From single subject learning to integrated learning • From unit assignments to project/problem based learning • From school based learning to life-long learning • From summative evaluation to authentic assessment • From teacher centred classrooms (sage on the stage) to learner centred classrooms (guide on the side)

23. In the Classroom/Community — • Teachers and trainers continue to do what they do best, they motivate and inspire, set the context, guide and facilitate learning • Teachers and trainers have become co-learners in the teaching/learning process • ICTs have shifted learning from the classroombase to to the community and the world

24. E-Learning Models – Program Differentiation Project and Problem Based Learning KWSL

25. Characteristics of a learning experience – Enhanced by the use of ICTs andcan be differentiated by With respect tothe learner’s Content Kind Needs Process Breadth Abilities Depth Product Interests Pace Evaluation Aspirations Program Differentiation

26. Project and Problem Based Learning – • In 1943, John Dewey said that the foundation of the curriculum should be based on the natural impulses of learners to inquire and find out • This was a strategy for Inquiry Learning which is the basis for project/problem-based learning • In PBL environments, students confront problems as they occur with insufficient information and the need to come up with the best solution possible by a given date. • Interactive learning model which can be local, national and international in scale • The model: • is relevant and deals with real issues, problems and themes • integrates the curriculum and serves all learners at all levels • shifts the focus in classrooms from teaching to learning

27. PBL Cont’d – • The teacher takes on the role ofnegotiatorandfacilitator • Students participate in projects and practice an interdisciplinary array of skills from math, language arts, fine arts, social sciences, science and technology • Project and Problem Based Learning: • Gives students ownership of their learning • Enables, engages, and empowers learners - collaborative model • Concrete experience - direct observation • Active experimentation - synthesis, design • Abstract conceptualization - modeling, analysis • Reflective observation - evaluation, comparison

28. Thousands of award winning digital learning projects in a searchable data base • Relevant content created by students • Support for over 34,000 projects • Opportunity for over 5 million students to work on-line • Original curriculum based Canadian content • Schools given small grants for creation of projects • Students learn multimedia Knowledge Economy skills • School websites created • Teacher Toolkit • Theme projects (Generations Can Connect)

29. Learning Strategies for the Internet – K W S LDr. John Ingram • What do I Know? • What do I Want to Know? • What Strategies do I need to find out? • What have I Learned?

30. Using these models – • Implementation of curriculum using e-learning strategies is more comprehensive, up-to-date, varied, enabling, encouraging and engaging • The use of Information and Communications Technologies in the classroom helps establish a Learning Culture • Students and teachers collaborate and learn together • Students easily transfer learning from one project/subject to others • Students become experts and resources for other students • Students learn how to learn

31. Some people make it happen, some people let it happen, and some people wonder what happened!

32. Learning Communities – Canada’s SchoolNet Community Access Program Network of Innovative Schools Pif.ca

33. Canada’s SchoolNet E-Learning at the speed of life http://www.schoolnet.ca http://www.rescol.ca

34. Canada’s SchoolNet – • Thousands of education resources K-Grade 12 all subject areas • User friendly - extends, enriches and remediates • A powerful tool for inquiry, analysis, communication and innovation • Designed for students and teachers • Access to learner centred programs and services eg.: • GrassRoots Program • Digital Collections • Community Access Program • Network of Innovative Schools • Smart Communities • Available in two languages http://www.schoolnet.ca

35. Learning Communities Provides affordable public access to the Internet. 8,800 Community Access Centres, rural and urban, in place by the Year 2001 to connect all 30 million Canadians. Over 9,200 rural and urban communities now connected (3,000 in Ontario) 52% of users are women Community Services include: training, on-line education/distance learning, job search, on-line community information, government on-line http://cap.ic.gc.ca/

36. Network of Innovative Schools – • 151 schools nationally • Selected NIS schools demonstrate creativity, resourcefulness, flexibility and risk-taking using ICT • NIS schools: • demonstrate leadership in their communities and a willingness to share innovative practice • Mentor other schools striving to be more innovative • Share their ideas, programs and projects on the NIS web site • Emphasize the innovative use of new technologies in the classroom http://www.schoolnet.ca/nis-rei

37. PIF.ca PIF.ca c'est la place des jeunes sur Internet (15-24) PIF.ca c’est la porte d’entrée virtuelle sur le monde de la francophonie au Canada! Ce portail permet de plonger dans le milieu francophone autour de thématiques intéressantes comme la musique, les sports, les voyages d’aventure, le cinéma et bien d’autres. C’est surtout une véritable occasion d’échanger et de communiquer en français avec le service maboîte qui offre une adresse de courriel gratuite avec 8 Mo d’espace de stockage, un filtre « anti-spam » et un calendrier. Et tout ça c’est en français bien sûr! http://www.PIF.ca

38. In the current economy, the difference is not between the ‘have and have-nots’ but between the ‘know and know-nots’

39. Digital Content and Resources – • Private Sector: • Web based learnware/software • Public Sector: • O.S.A.P.A.C. • Learnware fund: web based delivery • Education Community: • Teachers as learnware authors • Nectar Foundation • Learning Object Repositories (LORs) • Image Galleries

40. On-Line/Distance Learning – • Providers: • Universities, Community Colleges, School Boards • Courses (Campus Canada, Virtual University, Open university) • All degree programs available • Available internationally • 150,000 students currently registered at Athabaska Open University • School Boards • Student courses • Professional development • Corporations • Employee training • Private sector • Training schools

41. More Lessons Learned – • Equity vs equality • Technology Rich Learning Environments (TREE) • Seamless integration of the technology • Staff development must be ongoing • Teaching with technology vs teaching about technology • Most successful in-service is school based • Continuous on-going technology and learning support • Support for e-learning must be supported by the principal • *Creating a Learning Culture • *learning how to learn

42. 12 Years Ago in Canada – • Barebones infrastructure • No SchoolNet • No Computers for Schools • Only 200 of 16,000 schools on-line • No rural access to the Internet • Computers used as machines • E-mail not in the vocabulary • Few homes or businesses had computers

43. 55 Years Ago – • The greeting card that sings ‘happy birthday’ contained more computer power than existed on planet Earth before 1950 • If autombiles developed like microprocesser technology, the fastest car today would travel at 10,000 miles per hour and cost $2.00

44. Knowledge is said to be power, and it is power in the same sense that wood is fuel. Wood on fire is fuel. Knowledge on fire is power. Henry MacKenzie 1745-1831

45. Muchas Gracias Ethel Thayer ethayer@ilap.com