CANARIE takes loosely-structured approach to first-round learning projects

CANARIE Inc is investing $10 million in a variety of different projects in hopes of identifying which technologies hold the most promise for online learning. A close scrutiny of recently funded projects will also determine whether future new media applicants can expect a larger share of the $15 million available until 2004, which could be as early as this fall. Last month, the publicly-funded advanced networks agency handed out awards to 10 projects designed to help Canadian businesses and learning institutions develop learning tools and applications that take advantage of the capabilities and high speeds associated with a broadband Internet. Besides new media initiatives, CANARIE is also looking at new networking and repository technologies. Executives aren't apologizing for the lack of program focus in this latest round, citing the need to examine all possible facets of broadband-enabled learning before the program can invest in a single area in the future. Jamie Rossiter, director of CANARIE's Learning Program, says the funding program was undertaken to overcome serious hurdles to the efficient use of new Internet capabilities rapidly coming on stream. He says barriers to Canada becoming a world leader in using advanced networks such as the CA*net III range from missing technological pieces to a lack of cohesion between different provinces teaching the same curricula. Of the ten projects chosen in this round, CANARIE officials will be monitoring three to gauge the potential of new media applications over other online learning research areas. They are the University of Ottawa's New Integrated Multimedia Learning Environment for Internet Training, the University of Waterloo's Partnerships for Learning, Innovation and Technology (PLIANT), Lab)idéeclic's Modular Tool for Integration of Contents (MTIC) and the SavoirNet, led by Canal Savoir. Each are concentrating on developing new applications for broadband-enabled learning. The University of Ottawa's project will make possible both real-time and cached streaming of learning materials - not a simple proposition. The project's leaders say they must overcome technological obstacles related to the "stability of existing links, connectivity from advanced networks to broadband, the bandwidth used by institutions' intranets, multipoint communication components, and the various connectivity conditions of students," before they can align the communication bridges used in videoconferencing with the streaming servers on the Internet. The project will also determine the user-friendliness of learning interfaces. Lab)idéeclic will work to make it possible for the Canadian museum community to more extensively broadcast their collections and research to educational institutions, essentially making it possible for anyone with an Internet connection to visit a museum. The project will develop a variety of user interfaces which promise to be user-friendly, presented in real-time and include images, video, film, sound and text. Several major museums are featured as partners in the project, including the Museum of Civilization and the National Gallery of Canada. Finally, one of the most important new media projects in this round will develop a test bed for a new digital broadcast service dedicated to distance learning, "ensuring a solid convergence between television and the Internet." The first productions will include art history, natural sciences and training in education technologies. The project will likely be closely watched as it brings together a consortium of heavy-hitting broadcast players including Le Groupe Vidéotron Ltée, Look Communications Inc, Bell ExpressVu and Cancom/StarChoice. "When you're developing new media, I don't know of any organization that has all the skills needed to do it," says Rossiter. "We didn't have in this particular round-very tight guidelines (regarding the focus) of projects. We want to see what sort of things emerge from the community. So, there aren't strong threads." It's for that reason, he says, that each of the 10 projects that received up to $2 million in funding share little in common besides a strong national and multi-regional focus. Funding for the program comes from CANARIE's Phase III contribution agreement signed with Industry Canada last August which provided $78 million to the agency, of which $25 million was earmarked for the learning component. After disbursing $10 million this round, the consortium still has $15 million left to spend through March 2004. He says CANARIE will be keeping a careful eye on this round of projects to see which application areas show the greatest promise. Only then, he says, will Canarie know in which areas to concentrate a future mini-call for funding, possibly as early as this fall. "What we're particularly hoping to do is have subsequent calls be more targeted," says Rossiter.

CANARIE takes loosely-structured approach to first-round learning projects

News | 06/14/2000 4:00 am EDT

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