post-secondary distance education: experiences of elsipogtog first nation community members susan...
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Post-Secondary Distance Education:Experiences of Elsipogtog First Nation Community Members
Susan O’DonnellKevin Burton (Jesse Simon, Emily Lockhart)
ANTEC (Atlantic Native Teachers Education Conference)
May17, 2012Cape Breton, NS
Research History and Partners The VideoCom research project ongoing since 2006: http://
videocom.firstnation.ca
Since 2010, collaborative research on broadband networks and ICT in rural and remote First Nations
Atlantic Canada's First Nation Help Desk (Kevin Burton, Coordinator)
Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO) in Ontario (Brian Beaton, KO/K-Net Coordinator; Brian Walmark, KORI Research Director)
First Nations Education Council (FNEC) in Quebec (Tim Whiteduck, Director of Technology)
University of New Brunswick (Susan O’Donnell, Researcher and Adjunct Professor, Sociology)
Collaborating Communities and Studies Fort Severn First Nation, Ontario Community cell phone service; community perspectives on telemental health;
history of information sharing and technology development; the First Mile approach to service delivery
Mishkeegogamang First Nation, Ontario How community members are using ICT and broadband applications; community
perspectives on telemental health
Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, Quebec Networks and ICT for education services; household ICT use; broadband-enabled
services
Elsipogtog First Nation, New Brunswick Post-secondary distance education; technology and creativity
Acknowledgements Thanks to the Elsipogtog community leadership and
community members for participating in this research
Thanks to other members of the research team and community liaison
All the partner organizations contribute in-kind resources to this project
Our work has been supported since 2006 by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council – thank-you SSHRC!
Study Introduction Post-secondary distance
education an option in many Atlantic First Nations
Course delivery through videoconferencing or web for individuals and for groups in community classrooms
Our paper explores some of these opportunities and challenges in the Elsipogtog community
Research on First Nations Students and Post-Sec Distance Education A lot of interest but little previous
research
Studying in the same community where you live has many advantages over leaving to study elsewhere
Many political, organizational, social, cultural, technical challenges for distance education…
Current study focused on the experiences of Elsipogtog community members
Study Methodology The paper highlights the
significant capacity and interest in Elsipogtog for post-secondary education
In collaboration with the community, interviews with community members
Shared their experiences with distance education
ANTEC paper exploratory, focused on different modes of distance education delivery
Recent Use of Post-sec Distance Education Students taking distance ed
from Fredericton – St. Thomas and University of New Brunswick
Courses from Halifax – Dalhousie and Mount Saint Vincent University
Social work, education and nursing the most popular
Also GED high school by distance
Web-based Post-sec Course Delivery
Currently the primary method of course delivery
Students with computer at home (sometimes in computer lab together)
WebEx - live video, visual and audio possible
Good for students comfortable with computers who prefer studying in a home environment
Different Experiences with Web-based Course Delivery “So at home you can
just...it’s you and your computer and there’s no distractions around you” (Community Member).
“I was so alone. Oh my, I was so alone. Sitting by the computer and by the phone and, you know. No, I was literally sick to my stomach, that’s how much I...I’m not a computer learner at all” (Community Member).
Post-sec Delivered by Videoconference
Real-time audio-visual in a classroom setting
Preferred by students who ID’d as visual learners, needing more interaction with classmates and prof
Frustration with connectivity and technical challenges that could be easily solved
Different Experiences with Courses Delivered by Videoconference To me we were closer in
videoconferencing so more of a community than [WebEx] because ... Like we're all doing the same thing… we were closer. Like WebEx, to me, there's space there blocking. It's not as personal I don't think” (Community member).
“Thank God for one my classmates for math because that was one of my worst experiences-taking a math class through videoconferencing as I have a really hard time with math and the professor was really rude, for one” (Community member).
Summary of Findings People have different
learning styles and preferences
Web-based systems work well for those at home with family responsibilities
Videoconference works for those preferring group learning
Videoconference may be more suitable for those with limited computer skills
Next Steps… Work with community to
interpret findings, more papers
Consider how distance learning fits within a holistic e-community strategy
Invite anyone at ANTEC interested in this research to contact us for follow-up
Contacts for Follow-up More info and publications: http://videocom.firstnation.ca http://firstmile.ca
Susan O’Donnell: [email protected] Kevin Burton: [email protected]
Thank you!Comments, questions?