E-learning: Enhancing Educational Opportunities
For
a long time, distance educators in Canada have been committed to
shaping and supporting democratic approaches to learning. In the
late 1900s, they relied primarily on burgeoning mail systems. The
20th century offered new delivery options utilizing radio and television
technologies and laid the foundation for the tremendous explosion
of activity in the 21st century resulting from the advent of the
Internet.
Increasingly,
the notion that learner and instructor must share a physical space
is giving way to a new awareness of and appreciation for virtual
e-learning spaces, interactive environments and the use of multimedia
learning materials. Educators are acknowledging an enhanced role
for emerging information and communication technologies (ICT) and
expressing unprecedented interest in linking its adoption to learning
outcomes.
While
these are promising signs, stakeholders need to be reminded that
the employment of ICT in educational settings must continue to reflect
the core values of openness, accessibility and quality. The rapid
adoption of ICT in the absence of critical reflection and collective
action to ensure that all members of the community can pursue their
educational dreams is short-sighted.
Canada
has a leadership role to play in this debate. Pioneer organizations
such as the Canadian Association for Distance Education (CADE) (http://www.cade-aced.ca)
are poised to provide best practices information and lessons learned.
Understanding Canada’s rich history of distance education and appreciating
the underpinning values is critical as we collectively strive to
build communities of learners with equal access to educational opportunities
from coast-to-coast.
