distance education at the secondary level in québec
TRANSCRIPT
Distance Education at the Distance Education at the Secondary Level in QuébecSecondary Level in Québec
Présentation à la réunion annuelle de la P/TDEAOttawa, Ontario
Pierre GiguèreRobert Saucier13 octobre 2005
Content
• SOFAD description
• Brief history of DE at the secondary level
• SOFAD : a detailed description
• Major recent developments and issues
• Conclusion
SOFAD description
• Adults
• Self-paced
• Materials
• In DE or in adult education centres
• Online and in print
• French and English
Brief history of DE at the secondary level
One administrative unit at the Ministry for 50 years
• 1946• Lack of materials for vocational education• Lack of technical schools• Correspondance school
• 1972• General education• Télé-Université
• 80’s• Popular education and cegep level courses• Business minded organisation• Registrations peaked
Brief history of DE at the secondary level
• Early 90’s• DE institution created for the cegep level
• First courses offered in English
• «Planned» decline of DE at the secondary level takes place
• 1994 Liaison committee is created: CLIFADwith SOFAD, CCFD and Télé-université
• 1995-96 End of the single unit for DE at the Ministry
Brief history of DE at the secondary level
A new system with two subsets
• 1995, all services to the students go to the school boards
• 1996, SOFAD– a central body, outside the Ministry, administered
by the school boards– to develop, produce or coproduce learning
materials for general education, either in DE or in adult education centres
– to promote DE – to carry out studies and research – to foster the use of new technologies – to encourage partnerships
SOFADDetailed description
• For both French and English speaking communities
• For the adult population, 16 years and over
• More than 200 courses offered:• All academic courses Secondary 1 to 5 (French and
English)• Vocational courses in Secretarial Studies and
Accounting (French)• A few professional training and popular education
courses (French)
SOFADDetailed description
Specialized in • Technological and instructional design
• Project management
• Quality control
26 people
– Projects coordinators
– New technologies consultant
– Research & Development advisor
– Institutional research & Communication advisor
– Digital rights negotiator
– Technical support
– Web integrator
– Client services
– Support staff
SOFADDetailed description
Outsourcing for 2/3 of production costs
– Subject matter specialists
– Researchers
– Authors
– System analysts and programmers
– Illustrators, recording studios, actors
– Graphic designers
– Interface designers
– Content reviewers
– Llinguistic reviewers
– Proofreaders
– Technical reliability testers
– Webmasters
Major Recent Developments and Issues
Course Registrations
• Continuous growth in DE1995-1996 • 10 600 course registrations
2004-2005 • 28 000 + course registrations
• Unequal growth of the registrations in DE over the territory
Major Recent Developments and Issues
An Agreement
Agreement about DE and e-learning in Québec School boards signed in december 2003 by four parties:
• The Ministry of Education
• La Fédération des commissions scolaires du
Québec
• The Québec English School Boards Association
• SOFAD
Major Recent Developments and Issues
An Agreement
• SOFAD’s mandate confirmed and expanded
• SOFAD identified as the privileged partner
• Changes considered about the organisation of DE
– Consortia
– Harmonization
– Out of Québec students
– Financing
– Youth sector
Major Recent Developments and Issues
An Agreement
SOFAD’s mandate
• Learning materials
• Promotion
• Research
• Teacher’s continuing education
• Online preparation to the GED
Major Recent Developments and Issues
Online Learning
Some operational principles
• All credit courses developed online and in print
• Online and printed versions available at about the same price for the student
• Courses designed for DE as well as in-class students
• Courses also available to independant students
Major Recent Developments and Issues Online Learning
Courses are
• complete elearning environments providing – all learners need to learn– all teachers/tutors need to support learning in an
integrated fashion
• self paced and, when appropriate, collaborative learning
• within present school boards/SOFAD structure
Major Recent Developments and Issues Online Learning
Major Recent Developments and Issues Online Learning
eduSOFAD.com
3 sections
• Students
• Teachers
• Administrators
Major Recent Developments and Issues Online Learning
Now online: 5 courses and 5 services
– Test de classement en mathématiques– Test de classement en anglais langue seconde
– Biologie de la reproduction et périnatalité– Réunions d’affaires – Communication bilingue – Industrialisation et urbanisation– Démocratie et culture
– Initiation aux ressources informatiques– Éveil à la lecture et à l’écriture– Du français sans fautes
Major Recent Developments and Issues Online Learning
By the end of 2005: 8 more courses or services
– Test de classement en français langue d’enseignement
– Biologie du système respiratoire– Géométrie III– Trigonométrie I– Méthode de doigté– Recherche d’information – À la recherche d’un emploi– Bilan et choix professionnel
Major Recent Developments and Issues Online Learning
By the end of 2005: English portal, 4 courses or services
– Placement test in Mathematics
– Geometry III– Trigonometry I– The Human Reproductive System and Perinatal
Major Recent Developments and Issues
Customized Services• New sector: 5 people
• One big project with the Environment Ministry which makes SOFAD:• producer of distance courses and • organization responsible for training more than
25 000 workers using or selling pesticides in Québec
• Main recent issue: make this new sector a profitable initiative
• Main recent challenge wished for: a contract to produce and deliver some online customized services
Major Recent Developments and Issues
Various projects up and coming
• The need for new materials because of the reform of the curriculum
• DE for the youth sector• SOFAD’s opinion• A go-ahead from the board of directors to distribute the
document and to actually do some things
• A research project about student support in DE
• E-portfolio for life-long learning (an international conference in Quebec City in the spring of 2006)
Conclusion
Ten years old in a few months
Still looking for a coming-of-age experience
Contact
Pierre Giguère
(514) 529-2171
Robert Saucier
(514) 529-2175
www.sofad.qc.ca www.edusofad.com