VIDEO.STREAMING Information and communications technologies are having a major impact on education. Technology provides the means to deliver an enriched learning experience anytime, anywhere and to anyone. Technology provides the means to greatly expand the teaching capacity of our educational institutions. One of the specific new technologies that is expanding learning opportunities is Video-on-Demand (Streaming Video)..... READ MORE

 

ON-LINE.LEARNING Technology provides the means to deliver an enriched learning experience anytime, anywhere and to anyone. Technology provides the means to greatly expand the teaching capacity of our educational institutions. One of the specific new technologies that is expanding learning opportunities is Video-on-Demand (Streaming Video).... READ MORE

 

WEB ENABLING.OF CURRICULUM Having courses on the web will allow students to take college courses online from leaders in the field no matter where the students are located. On-line learning offers distance learners content and interactive features that other distance learning methods lack, e.g., superior presentation through graphics, audio and video; and, interactive learning and assessment tools.... READ MORE

 

On-line Learning

 Having courses on the web will allow students to take college courses online from leaders in the field no matter where the students are located. There will be cost savings to the students by not having to travel to the bricks and mortar institutions in order to continue their life long learning. On-line learning offers distance learners content and interactive features that other distance learning methods lack, e.g., superior presentation through graphics, audio and video; and, interactive learning and assessment tools. 

On behalf of the colleges, the Bibliocentre is preparing a consortium evaluation and purchasing of computer based training (CBT) through third party vendors. The Bibliocentre looked at four vendors; two were chosen for more rigorous evaluation: NETg and SmartForce. To date 11 of colleges are in various stages of purchasing or using these products. 

NETg, a subsidiary of Boston-based Harcourt General, Inc., is a leading developer of e-Learning solutions. The company has a portfolio of over 1,000 courses in several languages, covering professional IT, desktop and personal development skills and serves over 4,000 customers worldwide. NETg's key differentiator is the emphasis it places on the instructional design of its courses, using strict development methods and a unique course framework (Skill Builder) based on proven learning techniques. NETg courses are also based on an innovative course architecture - The NETg Learning Object (NLO) - that facilitates completely relevant, targeted and flexible learning. The company leads the industry with such innovations and offers customers a full range of e-Learning solutions incorporating Internet services, where learners can take courses and interact with live trainers as well as a total of 75,000 learning objects. NETg is committed to developing e-Learning that can be used to create timely, relevant and personal learning experiences that increase productivity and have a positive impact on company performance.

 SmartForce, the world's largest e-Learning company, provides integrated enterprise e-Learning solutions. SmartForce e-Learning is available as a fully hosted Internet environment through an Internet rental model. With more than 2,500 major corporate customers, SmartForce e-Learning solutions bring the power of the Internet to the critical training business process. The SmartForce e-Learning environment is also used by leading Internet, software and other companies to provide the infrastructure to support their e-Learning initiatives. 

On-line learning offers learning that is relevant, current, and human. A learning experience that discards the top down course model of learning and embraces the bottoms up, learner-centric model that is only possible through leveraging all the possibilities of the Internet. 

A proposal was brought forward to see if the Ontario colleges would be interested in the Bibliocentre pursuing consortium pricing on their behalf. These products maybe used to upgrade employees or as a support for faculty teaching in these areas. Central negotiating and purchasing on projects such as this is an efficient example of how centralized purchasing can save dollars and resources. The cost of the product dropped by 50% when negotiating centrally. 

It is estimated that by 2003, 50% of corporate training will be by distance learning. Corporate America spends $60 billion annually on employee training; since distance learning courses can be offered at one-half to one-third the costs of a conventional course, the potential savings are huge.

 

 

Web enabling of curriculum

Having courses on the web will allow students to take college courses online from leaders in the field no matter where the students are located. There will be cost savings to the students by not having to travel to the bricks and mortar institutions in order to continue their life long learning. The number of students who “go off to college” is actually a fraction of the total number of people seeking education and training, whether to obtain degrees or enhance skills. Many learners are bound to their location because they cannot afford to leave home, adult learners with jobs and families, or workers needing skills training. These location bound people can now take courses, certificate programs and even entire degree programs “anytime, anywhere”. It will also give students more options as to how they want to learn. As standards are being developed, students will be able to easily access and sign onto courses at any college and not worry about the learning curve in using an online course. 

The technology enriches the distance learning experiences by providing content and interactive features that other distance learning methods lack, e.g., expanded interaction with faculty through e-mail, bulletin boards and multimedia lectures; student-to-student interaction through e-mail, bulletin boards and chat room discussions; superior presentation through graphics, audio and video; immediate access to course related content such as lecture notes, readings and links to relevant external sites; and, interactive learning and assessment tools. 

Faculty can spend more time in the classroom with students, rather than work behind the scenes to web-enable their courses. Faculty will only have to work on the redesign of their courses for the web rather than do the technical work of actually putting it on the web. With the globalization of learning colleges need to be quicker and find better ways of enabling their curriculum. This is a new initiative that is twofold. One, the Bibliocentre is evaluating web based teaching products (e.g. WebCT, Blackboard etc.) to determine the products best suited to education. Two, the Bibliocentre is presently in a pilot project with Sault College to centrally web enable curriculum. The purpose is to study whether centralizing web-enabling curriculum will result in a faster turnaround, quality product to a standard and be more cost effective. 

The Bibliocentre will also link the web-enabled curriculum to relevant electronic resources, text book ordering and video collections. 

Canada has a model educational system that is of interest to much of the world. Many students beyond Canada’s borders are being served by Canada’s educational system through distance education services. The number of students who “go off to college” is actually a fraction of the total number of people seeking education and training, whether to obtain degrees or enhance skills. Many learners are bound to their location because they cannot afford to leave home, adult learners with jobs and families, or workers needing skills training. These location bound people can now take courses, certificate programs and even entire degree programs “anytime, anywhere”. 

By establishing standards for web enabled courses, by providing for wider dissemination and distribution of distance education courses, students have greater access to courses offered at all educational institutions, not only those within their catchment areas. 

It is estimated that by 2003, 50% of corporate training will be by distance learning. Corporate America spends $60 billion annually on employee training; since distance learning courses can be offered at one-half to one-third the costs of a conventional course, the potential savings are huge. 

The rural areas will be better served, as educational institutions can facilitate outreach in these areas.