Wider Horizons

When classes opened for the fall semester at Lethbridge College post-Labour Day, some 6,200 students filled theeCampus hallways, dutifully found their classrooms, and settled down to the next four months of academic study on campus.

Some students, however, will likely never see the brick and plaster that make up the physical entity at 3000 College Drive.

Instead, they will study, learn and achieve from computers at other locations, as many students have for five years, through eCampusAlberta. For the 2007-2008 academic year, almost 120 students registered for Lethbridge College courses through eCampusAlberta.

And eCampusAlberta is just one element of the distance learning opportunities Lethbridge College provides to hundreds of students each year.

Lethbridge College embraced the innovative learning concept when it began under the guidance of Alberta Advanced Education and Technology almost six years ago. Since then, eCampusAlberta has grown to 15 post-secondary institutions and annual registration has grown significantly each year.

Among the first to grasp the project’s potential was Karen O’Dwyer, the College’s current dean of Teaching, Learning and Innovation. She found herself appointed to a committee set up to explore methods of bringing the concept into reality.

“It really was a visionary idea to use resources across the province to improve and expand access to all Albertans in an efficient way,” O’Dwyer says. “Everyone thought it sounded good, but nobody knew how to actually make it happen. We had to come up with a way of implementing it.”

Karen Harker and the Educational Enhancement Team have taken the lead for the institution’s involvement.

“The eCampusAlberta initiative is a benefit to everyone involved,” Harker says. “Students who might otherwise be unable to make it to Lethbridge benefit by gaining access to our programs, the institutions benefit through enhanced collaboration, and our own college benefits through external funding, which has been quite prolific recently.”

Funding is also playing a big role in enhancing the skills of instructors. A $250,000 fund to assist instructors with online teaching has been created through eCampusAlberta. This substantial investment in faculty development provides an opportunity to learn new methods of instruction and delivery keyed to meeting the needs of online learners.

Lethbridge College is helping lead the way in this brave new world, developing a Learning Connections website funded by eCampusAlberta that is scheduled to be operational by October. The site will serve as a resource for teams developing courses, as well as for instructors who are learning how to teach effectively in the online environment.

Often running ahead of the curve and helping to drive the need to adapt are many of today’s students. While those used to attending daily classes with an instructor at the front of the room will still find their needs met, the expansion of online learning generates some exciting options.

“It’s been determined that introverts, those who wouldn’t necessarily ask questions in a classroom, do much better online and are more likely to participate in online discussions,” Harker says. “The courses are designed to develop a sense of community. By using web-conferencing software, instructors are able to introduce themselves by video online, and converse with students either one on one or as a class. They can make themselves available at a set time each day.”

O’Dwyer agrees that student needs are a driving force behind much of the change taking place in the delivery of postsecondary education.

“It’s an evolution and I think many young people today are expecting, at the very least, enhanced web delivery,” she says.

Lethbridge College contributes to that enhanced web delivery through courses it provides online. Recently receiving $266,000 from eCampusAlberta’s Online Curriculum Development Fund, the College is adding 22 courses to the 13 it already provides. It’s a process that requires careful planning.

The new course offerings come from four program areas: Corrections, Policing, Special Needs Educational Assistant and Biotechnology. The original courses were from the Corrections program, co-ordinated by Ian Hepher. The eCampusAlberta initiative, notes Hepher, dovetailed nicely with Lethbridge College’s vision of making available its unique Bachelor of Applied Arts in Correctional Studies degree through distance learning.

Through distance learning, employees of the provincial and federal corrections services who desire upgrading can complete applied degrees online and be credited with prior on-the-job learning. The program is also offered at the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology’s Prince Albert campus.

With the degree available online, Lethbridge College is working on the first two years. The diploma program is approaching its goal of having the entire area of study available through the Internet within two years. The impetus for the degree program came from the Correctional Service of Canada, which Hepher says continues to be very supportive.

A significant number of employees across Canada continue to seek upgrading.

Sandra Forbes, social programs officer for the Grande Cache Institution, took three corrections courses, one a year to last January, while she continued working, to advance her career.

“I took these through distance learning as I like the benefits of working full-time as well as working towards my degree,” says Forbes. “Financially it has meant a lot to me to be able to continue to work. I’m working in the field that I’m studying; therefore I am constantly using the skills and information that I’m learning through my classes on a daily basis.”

Hepher doesn’t fear what he admits has been an adjustment for instructors. He notes the online factor enables structure and classroom emulation through discussion and commentary.

“Five years ago, we went to distance learning. Now, it’s the online movement. We realize it benefits students if we remain innovative and stay ahead of the curve. I think Lethbridge College has been a model, led the way in several areas. We’ve established a reputation with eCampusAlberta; they know, thanks to Karen, we’ll get the job done.”

Wider Horizons
Peter Scott
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