778,006 research outputs found

    E-learning in Canada

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    Any view of elearning in Canada must be informed by the uniquely Canadian feature of provincial jurisdiction over education. Canada is the only country that does not have a national department/ministry of education. Therefore any investigation of elearning in Canada must focus more on specific provincial initiatives in technologically enhanced learning rather than a Canadian overview. A distinctive “Canadian” model cannot exist (unless one views disparate models as evidence of a uniquely Canadian archetype!). The provinciality of Canadian elearning serves to highlight the inability of Canada to sustain national strategies and focus such as implemented in many other countries due to the fractious nature of federal/provincial relations particularly in education

    Barriers to e-Learning in SMEs — Are they Still There?

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    Facing pressure from an increasingly competitive business environment, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are called upon to implement e-Learning strategies to support their organizational training and developmental efforts. The purpose of this study is to identify the barriers and constraints SMEs experience when they want to use e-Learning and to determine, through a multiple case study, if the barriers to e-Learning actually experienced by SMEs in Atlantic Canada are the same as those that larger organizations are experiencing, and if they remain the same after all these years. Another purpose of this study is to present different approaches, such as the need to develop an e-Learning culture in Atlantic Canada and Canada in general, to create greater awareness and promotion of e-Learning, to determine an overall learning strategy to upgrade the technological skills of the employees and the SMEs, that can assist SMEs in surmounting the barriers they face when they want to use e-Learning

    Blended learning internationalization from the commonwealth: An Australian and Canadian collaborative case study

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    This case depiction addresses the contentious issue of providing culturally and globally accessible teaching and learning to international students in universities in the Commonwealth nations of Australia and Canada. The chapter describes the university systems and cultures, the barriers to authentic higher education internationalization, and the problems frequently experienced by international students. Two university cases are presented and analysed to depict and detail blended learning approaches (face-toface combined with e-learning) as exemplars of culturally and globally accessible higher education and thereby ideologically grounded internationalization. Lessons learned are presented at the systems level and as teaching and learning solutions designed to address pedagogical problems frequently experienced by international students in the areas of communication, academic skills, teaching and learning conceptualization, and moving from rote learning to critical thinking. The blended learning solutions are analysed through the lens of critical theory

    The Search for Meaningful e-Learning at Canadian Universities: A Multi-Institutional Research Study

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    While e-learning is now characterized by a past and trends within that past, there continues to be uncertainty about how e-learning is defined and conceptualized, whether or not we like e-learning, and whether or not it is as meaningful to us as face to face learning. The purpose of this study was to document the e-learning perceptions of students at three Canadian post-secondary institutions. Key components of e-learning courses including ease of navigation, course design, resource availability, and adequacy of e-learning supports and their impact on the student learning experience were also evaluated. Based on a survey of students (n = 1,377) as well as their participation in focus groups, the following are presented as important findings: the majority of students studying in e-learning courses at the three institutions represented in the study were women; ease of navigation, course design, and previous experience with e-learning consistently demonstrated a statistically significant predictive capacity for positive e-learning experiences; and students expressed less preference for e-learning instructional strategies than their faculty. Study findings hold implications for e-learning faculty, instructional designers, and administrators at institutions of higher education in Canada and elsewhere where e-learning is part of the institutional mandate. Additionally, further research into student perceptions of and experiences with e-learning is recommended.National League for Nursing/Sigma Theta Tau Internationa

    Impact of an Early Childhood Educator e-Learning Course in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour on Young Children’s Movement Behaviours in Childcare: The TEACH-Preschooler Study

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    Physical activity is such a pivotal aspect of children’s healthy development. However, research has shown that children in Canada are actually largely inactive and highly sedentary. The childcare environment has been identified as the ideal setting to promote physical activity in young children and develop their skills for an active life. The Training pre-service EArly CHildhood educators in physical activity, also known as the TEACH study, developed an e-Learning course in physical activity with early childhood educators (ECEs). The pilot study showed promising results with ECE’s knowledge, behavioural intentions, and self-efficacy all increasing after the e-Learning course. My USRI project aimed to investigate the impact the TEACH e-Learning course would have on children’s physical activity, fundamental movement skills, and cognitive development

    Working Conditions for K-12 Distance & Online Learning Teachers in Canada

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    “Teacher unions in Canada have had concerns about developments in online learning, but have generally been supportive if they have felt conditions were appropriate,” according to the Director of Research and Technology at the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF). This sentiment has been echoed by the researchers involved in the annual State of the Nation: K- 12 E-Learning in Canada. These researchers have also underscored the fact that teacher unions have also been active in conducting research to investigate how teaching in the distance education and online learning environment is different than teaching in the classroom, and what impact that has on the nature of work and quality of work life for its members. The present study is an example of this exploration. This report describes a study conducted to explore written provisions for the working conditions of K-12 distributed learning teachers in Canada (i.e., distance education and online learning are generally referred to as distributed learning throughout the report). At present, there is one provincial jurisdiction that includes language in their collective agreement with teachers related to distributed learning. There are also two provinces where there is language in one or more local contracts focused on distributed learning. Finally, there was one province where the provincial teacher union had a significant policy related to distributed learning. Within these documents, there were consistent themes around 1) defining distributed learning; 2) clauses focused on teacher working conditions in the distributed learning environment; 3) responsibilities for the schools and/or school boards that choose to operate distributed learning programs; and 4) mechanisms to allow for consultations between those operating the distributed learning program and the union. In all of these themes, there are actually few regulations that go beyond what would be expected for traditional brick-and-mortar education. The main areas where distributed learning teachers were treated differently than face-to-face teachers were for legal reasons, as well as the provision for consultations between distributed learning operators and their respective unions. These unique aspects are reflective of stakeholders’ efforts to examine what constitutes the equivalent experiences for teaching in the distributed learning environment relative to traditional classroom teaching

    Enhance, Extend, Empower: Understanding Faculty Use of E-Learning Technologies

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    [EN] There has been scant nation-wide assessment of institutional use of learning technology in Canada (Grant, 2016) and where assessment has been done of student access to e-resources, considerable variability within and across institutions has been reported (Kaznowska, Rogers, & Usher, 2011). With a broad goal of improved and increased use of learning technologies, one university wanted to explore the use of e-learning technologies across campus. The purpose of this study was to identify instructors' needs and aspirations with respect to how learning technologies at the university could be designed, implemented, and supported. The 3E framework of Enhance, Extend, Empower, proposed by Smyth, Burce, Fotheringham, & Mainka (2011), was useful in examining the underlying purposes of using e-learning technologies. For this qualitative study, the research team engaged 32 instructors in individual interviews or in focus groups to discuss how they currently use e-learning technologies, how they hope to advance their uses of these technologies, and their perceived barriers or enablers to implementation. The study has implications for practice and policy at postsecondary institutions; additionally, this study suggests possibilities for further research into the scholarship of teaching and learning in the context of e-learning technologies.Squires, V.; Turner, N.; Bassendowski, S.; Wilson, J.; Bens, S. (2017). Enhance, Extend, Empower: Understanding Faculty Use of E-Learning Technologies. En Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1033-1043. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD17.2017.55081033104

    State of the Nation: K–12 Online Learning in Canada

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    A variety of initiatives are driving online and blended learning in each of Canada’s provinces and territories. From teachers’ unions in Nova Scotia fighting to ensure online learning is an accepted method of educational delivery, to Ontario’s College of Teachers creating an e-learning endorsement for teachers or the British Columbia government creating policies to expand the growth and opportunities online learning provides, there are multiple, isolated initiatives happening across the country. State of the Nation: K-12 Online Learning in Canada is now in its fourth year of publication and can be seen as a national guide for understanding the field and the state of online learning across all provinces and territories. The report can also provide guidance, resources, and ideas for how to improve both policy barriers and teacher practice in the nation’s schools in order to provide access to high quality educational opportunities for all students through online and blended learning

    Facilitating adult learning: the role of the academic librarian

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    C. Lyn Currie, BA. Grad Dip Lib. MA., is Head, Education Library, University of Saskatchewan, 28 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0X1, Canada, E-mail: [email protected] paper considers the instructional role of the academic librarian and examines the contribution adult learning theory makes to the practice of teaching information literacy skills. It explores those principles of effective practice in facilitating adult learning which apply to the teaching-learning transactions in the library. It describes the aim of facilitation as one of encouraging self directed, empowered adults and confirms the role of the academic librarian in facilitating the development of critical thinking, creative problem-solving and informed decision making in adult learners. It also examines the concept of information literacy and how this contributes to adult lifelong learning

    An International Study in Competency Education: Postcards from Abroad

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    Acknowledging that national borders need not constrain our thinking, we have examined a selection of alternative academic cultures and, in some cases, specific schools, in search of solutions to common challenges we face when we consider reorganizing American schools. A wide range of interviews and e-mail exchanges with international researchers, government officials and school principals has informed this research, which was supplemented with a literature review scanning international reports and journal articles. Providing a comprehensive global inventory of competency-based education is not within the scope of this study, but we are confident that this is a representative sampling. The report that follows first reviews the definition of competency-based learning. A brief lesson in the international vocabulary of competency education is followed by a review of global trends that complement our own efforts to improve performance and increase equitable outcomes. Next, we share an overview of competency education against a backdrop of global education trends (as seen in the international PISA exams), before embarking on an abbreviated world tour. We pause in Finland, British Columbia (Canada), New Zealand and Scotland, with interludes in Sweden, England, Singapore and Shanghai, all of which have embraced practices that can inform the further development of competency education in the United States
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