Barbour, M. K. (2013, March). State of the Nation: K-12 Online Learning in Canada. A presentation to the London Region Digital Learning Steering Committee Meeting, London, ON.

1. State of the Nation Study: K-12 Online
Learning in Canada
Michael K. Barbour
Wayne State University

4. Methodology

5. National Trends
• K–12 distance education continues to grow
• Correspondence education continues to be
prevalent
• Blended learning is seen as effective ICT
• Several jurisdictions have made dramatic
changes over the past five years

6. National Trends: Regulation
• Many provinces and territories have some
reference to distance education in the
Education Act or Schools Act
– this is changing!
• regulation of K–12 distance education is the
use of contracts with MoE or policy
handbooks
• British Columbia and Nova Scotia are major
exceptions

7. National Trends: Activity

8. National Trends: Activity

9. National Trends: Activity
• Growth of K-12 distance education is quite
uneven
– reported growth in some jurisdictions may be due to
better accounting
• Participation in blended learning is not
counted in most instances

10. National Overview - Activity

11. Newfoundland and Labrador
• Single province-wide online program since
2001
– grew out of district-based initiatives and legacy
distance education program
• No specific policies for online learning, but
provincial program is housed within MOE

12. Nova Scotia
• Recent creation of a single province-wide
program
– grew out of district-based online initiatives
• 11 provisions included in the agreement
between the Government & teachers union

13. Prince Edward Island
• Uses online learning program in New
Brunswick
– legacy video conferencing program has been
phased out
• MOE has issued two directives since 2001
containing guidelines for the use of distance
education in K-12 environment

14. New Brunswick
• Single province-wide program since 1998
– used frequently by face-to-face teachers too
• Ministry has created a 100+ page handbook
that districts have to agree to in order to
participate in online learning
• Provincial program is housed within MOE

15. Quebec
• Couple individual online and correspondence
programs that partner with school districts
– additional a couple of programs that provide for
connected classrooms or blended learning
• MOE devolved distance education to the
districts about a decade ago
– currently no regulation

16. Ontario
• Primarily district-based program using the
provincial CMS and course content
– cooperation between boards through consortiums
– three private schools and Independent Learning
Centre
• Ministry has created contracts that districts
have to agree to in order to participate in
online learning based on the Provincial E-
Learning Strategy

17. Manitoba
• Province offers three forms
– MOE manages correspondence and audio
teleconference systems
– districts manage their own web-based program
using MOE content
• MOE approves programs and regulates the
use of their distance content

18. Saskatchewan
• Primarily district-based programs
– most have their own capacity in some form
– sixteen districts provided space to external
students through the Saskatchewan Distance
Learning Course Repository
• Province devolved responsibility to
districts
– no regulation

19. Alberta
• Numerous district-based, several private, and
a province-wide program
• MOE has no specific online learning policies
– release Inspiring Action on Education in June 2011
– currently undergoing external review of distance
education regulation and activity

20. British Columbia
• Significant numbers of public district-based &
independent (i.e., private) programs
– begun expanding nationally and internationally
• Most extensive distributed learning
regulations
– funding follows student
– quality audit process

21. Yukon
• Several MOE initiatives (currently expanding
video conferencing opportunities)
– also utilize program from British Columbia &
Alberta
• Primarily regulated by Ministry or through
inter-provincial agreements

22. Northwest Territories
• Primarily utilizes programs from Alberta
– beginning to create internal capacity
– also has one district-based program (i.e., Beaufort
Delta Education Council)
• Primarily regulated by Ministry or through
inter-provincial agreements

23. Nunavut
• Utilizes program from Alberta & British Columbia
– a belief that southern distance education courses
rarely meet the needs of students in
context, cultural, relevance, and pedagogy
– trying to build internal capacity (e.g., building on
other existing programs, including adult programs like
“Together @ a Distance”)
• Primarily regulated by Ministry or through inter-
provincial agreements

24. Take-Aways
• Regulatory behaviour varies considerably from
no to extensive regulations
• Level of activity is increasing nationally, but to
what level we just can’t tell definitively
• Unions remain cautiously supportive

25. http://virtualschool.wikispaces.com/canada/

26. Your
Questions
and
Comments

27. Assistant Professor
Wayne State University, USA
mkbarbour@gmail.com
http://www.michaelbarbour.com