Funding adequate support for e-learning major challenge: deputy ministers

Funding remains the most significant hurdle to broader implementation of e-learning, though other challenges also threaten the industry, delegates attending the recent second CANARIE Inc. National E-Learning Workshop heard. In fact, four provincial deputy ministers told about 300 attendees in Montreal in late February that just coming to grips with the multiple projects ongoing in the field – nationally, provincially and in the private sector – is proving overwhelming. Deputy ministers of education for Ontario, Alberta and Quebec each told participants during a panel discussion that their respective provinces are implementing new policy frameworks in the next three or four years to grapple with issues such as technology, accessibility, intellectual property, standards and staff training. But they conceded that funding – especially to ensure adequate human support for online programs – will remain a critical imperative. Kevin Constante, Ontario’s deputy minister of education, told participants that funding "remains the last major issue that we all face on an ongoing basis." He explained that everyone in the industry understands that online learning is intended to supplement, not replace, its traditional classroom corollary. To be successful, he said, students need staff support as well as adequate technological tools. Constante said the province is working on a strategy for e-learning to be in place by 2003, and that some pilot courses were implemented last year. He estimates that five per cent of all courses in Ontario’s post-secondary institutions have some online component. A strategy to deal with growing enrolment in e-learning courses at all levels of the school system as well as in the workplace is important, he noted, to help avoid a critical skill shortage forecast by 2005. The strategy will attempt to build on current expertise, collaborate to maximize investments and, hopefully, achieve some economies and reusability for courseware components. But funding for the strategy hasn’t yet been won. If the department can win a commitment, it has a five-point plan to meet the e-learning challenge, Constante told the conference. First, the ministry would like to set up an e-learning content development fund. Second, it would set up a web-based portal for all of the province’s e-learning activities. Third, it would establish a centre of excellence for faculty to train in e-learning skills. It would also seek to create an "Ontario digital library" and, finally, establish an e-learning advisory council. Participants at the conference also heard similar remarks from Robert Poulin and Maria David-Evans of Quebec and Alberta.

Funding adequate support for e-learning major challenge: deputy ministers

News | 04/08/2002 4:00 am EDT

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