The Learning Communities Project: Bringing distance education to Alberta's

remote work camps and rural areasPatrick Fahy & Nancy Steel

Athabasca University

CNIE Conference, Banff29 April, 2008

Banff Park Lodge

Origin of the Learning Communities Project

• Athabasca University model: open and distance university offerings on various “lines”

• DE model: reduce barriers for remote, rural communities, camp residents, due to work, personal realities

• Project funded by a donation from Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ), in-kind from AU. – Develop people, wants competitive advantage.– Do well while doing good.

Project objectives

• To transform the workplace and communities.• To address personal goals with respect to career

change, advancement.• To find new ways of creating learning

communities in rural and remote areas.• (For corporate sponsors): To address problems

attracting and retaining skilled workforce• To identify and promote viable offerings from

Alberta institutions

Project principles

1. Focus on 4 targeted audiences: camp workers, northern and rural residents, aboriginals

- Initial focus on CNQ’s Horizon construction site workforce

2. Develop partnerships to provide access to range of target groups, based on ongoing assessment of needs, interests, and preferences

- Offerings must offer “distance” access

3. Communities contribute access, time, expertise, and material support

What is distance education?

Same time Different time

synchronous asynchronous

Same Place 1 2Site-bound

Different Place 3 4Site-independent

Communities of present LCP interest

• Horizon site (mobile workers)

• Wood Buffalo region (Fort Chipewyan and Fort MacKay)

• Cold Lake (town and CFB Cold Lake)

• Three Hills

• Wabasca

• Fort St. John, B.C.

Numbers of Horizon site workers

Total workers on site = 19,720

• 1,108 CNQ employees

• 18,612 contract workers

• 2,176 Female

• 17,544 Male

Characteristics of Horizon site workers

• Worksite 70 Km north Ft. McMurray – often a 2 hour drive

• Residence lodges (5)

• Largely construction workers

• Work long shifts, outdoors, overtime, “mobile”

• Often find free time boring

LCP activities on site

• Project “launches” at 5 camps• Set-up in lobby areas• Materials on hand, staff available to answer questions and

take requests for detailed information • Researcher present to record nature of inquiries & requests

• Speaker series• “Eating for Health”• “Life Balance”

• MBA Sessions• The AU MBA program

Findings: Learning preferences expressed

• 36% Business, Finance & Management• MBA• Project Management• Business Administration, Accounting, and HR

• 34 %Trades & Engineering• Blue Seal• Health & Safety• Red Seal• APEGGA courses or exam preparation

Finding: Learning interests expressed

• Others:• Computer applications, including Microsoft Office• English as a Second Language• Foreign Languages – Spanish, Italian, French• Academic upgrading, or grad 12 equivalency• General interest: fitness, guitar, flight training,

martial arts

Responses to inquiries

• Inquiries from events or other forwarded to AU Advising for a timely response.

• Research team follows up re customer / student satisfaction, intentions.

Issues and challenges

• Communication on-site is complicated – no common link

• Organizing events time-consuming and complex – procedures and people constantly changing

• Audience is shift / mobile workers; may be temporary foreign workers

• Computer/internet access not always available to or used by all

• Potential students often not familiar with, or actually skeptical about, distance education

Research products to date

• Seven Occasional Reports• Interim Report 1• Literature annotations• Paper submitted to peer reviewed journal

“Post-Secondary Learning Priorities of Workers in an Oil Sands Camp in Northern Alberta” (In review)

• Baseline study“Programming Available and Requested in Remote Areas of Alberta” (In progress)

Next steps

• Continue regular information and speaker sessions at the Horizon site

• Population will soon change once into production

• Intensify research into learning interests in other identified communities outside the oilsands

• Continue Occasional Reports (formative evaluation)

• Continue to produce papers for peer-reviewed journals (dissemination)

• Continue to evaluate project operations (1 more interim report, final report at project end)

For more information …

• Website: http://www.athabascau.ca/lc/

• Email: asklc@athabascau.ca

Thank you

• Pat Fahy (patf@athabascau.ca)– 866-514-6234

• Nancy Steel (nancys@athabascau.ca)– 866-569-8051