Distance Education in Canada: Access and Quality

Distance Education in

Canada: Access and Quality

Mark BullenUniversity of British Columbia

Distance Education in Canada

Outline

•Access, quality and appropriateness in the Canadian context

•The Canadian education system

•Distance education in Canada

•Distance education technologies

•Quality assurance

•The University of British Columbia

•Distance education at UBC

The Canadian Education System

•Influenced by geography, size

•Canada: a federation

•Education a provincial responsibility

•10 education systems

•Some federal funding

Higher Education in Canada

•Colleges

•Career programs, university preparation

•Institutes

•Technical, vocational

•Universities

•Research, graduate, undergraduate

Universities

•Mainly public institutions

•Few private universities

•92 public universities

•Vary in size: 3,000 - 40,000 students


•Factors

•Geography

•Access

•Lifelong learning

•Social mandate


•History

•Queens University, 1889

•Athabasca University, 1972

•Télé-Université, 1972

•Open Learning Institute, 1978


•Three “single mode” distance teaching universities

•Athabasca University (Alberta)

•BC Open University (British Columbia)

• part of Thompson Rivers University - consortium

• Telé-Université (Québec)

• part of Université de Québec

http://www.athabascau.ca/

http://www.bcou.ca/

http://www.teluq.uquebec.ca/


•Consortia

•Canadian Virtual University

• Consortium of 11 universities

• Smaller universities

• 2200 courses and 280 degrees available by combining courses

http://www.cvu-uvc.ca/

Provincial consortia


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•Most traditional universities also have distance education programs

•E-learning as mixed mode growing faster than distance education

•Growth of mixed mode e-learning causing organizational restructuring


•Distance education traditionally supported by non-Faculty units

•Mixed mode e-learning tends to be Faculty-based

•Supported by practitioners with a different professional profile


•Quality

•Course development process

• Integration of DE in conventional universities

•Organization - central, professional support

•Appropriateness,Access

•Pay attention to audience


•Quality Assurance

• Is an external process really needed to ensure the quality of distance education?

•Why does quality only seem to be an issue for DE?

•What is quality?

•Quality of what?

•Whose quality?

•How will it be measured?


•Quality Assurance Issues

•Objective standards vs. subjective standards

• Technical issues much easier to standardize

• Pedagogical issues much more subjective


•Quality Assurance in Canada

•Course development processes

•Academic review

• Institutional context, credibility

•No formal quality assurance processes

Quality Assurance Guidelines

•Performance

•the finished product should operate in an effective way, as determined by the end-user.

•Features

•the ‘bells and whistles’ incorporated into the finished product should be appropriate, and not detract from the overall objectives of the project.

•Reliability

•the finished product should not be subject to malfunction.


•Conformance

•the finished product should comply with industry standards, using standard technologies (though those technologies can be pushed to their utmost) and reflect established education theory.

•Durability

•the finished product should be relevant and either timeless (in the case of teaching established principles) or easily updated.

•Serviceability

•it should be easy to repair or adjust the finished product as required.


• Aesthetics

• the overall ‘feel’ of the finished product should be professional and user-friendly.

• Perceived Quality

• the finished product should enhance the reputation of the institution as a quality e-learning provider.

• (From: Development of a Quality Assurance System for E-Learning Projects, Mark Nichols, 2002)


•Emphasis on technical issues

•Complex

•Difficult or costly to measure

•Can measureable standards be established?

•Consumer guidelines vs. external assessment

•Is it better to equip consumers with guidelines rather than impose costly and cumbersome external assessment?


•Quality assurance should apply to all education

•Develop distance education using processes that help to ensure quality

•Organization has been the key to the quality of DE in Canada:

•DE integrated into conventional universities

• Supported by central departments of professionals


•Distance education technologies in Canada

•Correspondence (print-based)

•Online (e-learning)

•Video conferencing

•Audio conferencing

•Television

•Others: CD, video


•Technology selection

•driven primarily by access considerations

•many learners do not have reliable or cheap Internet access

•43% of Canadian households have broadband Internet access

•65% have some form of Internet access


•ACTIONS (Bates, 1995)

•Access

•Costs

• Teaching and learning

• Interaction

•Organization

•Novelty

• Speed


•Appropriate use of technology

•Nursing - delayed use of online

•Medicine - mobile learning

Oldest and largest university in BC

Founded in 1914

Second largest in Canada (after U of Toronto)

University of British Columbia

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40,000 students (undergraduate and graduate)

4,054 international students (150 from Mexico)QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.


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•2,000 full time faculty

•8,000 staff

•Budget: $1 Billion

•Focus on graduate programs and research


•Four campuses

•3 - Vancouver; 1 - Okanagan

•11 Faculties

•Arts, Science, Education, Medicine, Applied Science, Forestry, Agricultural Sciences, Law, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Business

Distance Education at UBC

•6,000 distance education enrollments

•Steady increase since 1995 (+58%)

•110 courses

•All new course development online since 1998


•Distance Education & Technology

•Central support department for distance education

•Operating since 1949

•Staff of 22

• instructional designers, web programmers, graphic designers, learner support

•Organizational change

http://det.ubc.ca/


•Distance education courses

•Mostly undergraduate

•Graduate and professional area is growing faster

•New online programs

• Master of Educational Technology, Rehabilitation Sciences, Master of Fine Arts - Creative Writing

http://met.ubc.ca/

The Project Management Approach

The Project Management Approach

•Team-based

•Centrally supported, coordinated, funded

•Four phases

•Quality assurance is built in

•Use of professional instructional designers, graphic designer, web programmer and multimedia specialists - professional standards

•Built in academic review by external reviewer at two points in the process - academic standards

Summary

•Access and appropriateness are linked

• Inaccessible technology is inappropriate

•Accessible technology not necessarily appropriate

•Need to understand our audience

•Quality depends on process

•Development process

• Integration in conventional universities

•Organization - central, professional support

Questions

??Distance Education at UBC