The Learning Communities Project: Bringing distance education to Alberta's remote work camps and rural areas

1. The Learning Communities Project: Bringing distance education to Alberta's remote work camps and rural areas Patrick Fahy & Nancy Steel Athabasca University CNIE Conference, Banff 29 April, 2008 Banff Park Lodge

2. 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.

3. 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

4. Project principles • Focus on 4 targeted audiences: camp workers, northern and rural residents, aboriginals - Initial focus on CNQ’s Horizon construction site workforce • Develop partnerships to provide access to range of target groups, based on ongoing assessment of needs, interests, and preferences - Offerings must offer “distance” access • Communities contribute access, time, expertise, and material support

5. What is distance education? Same time Different time synchronousasynchronous Same Place 1 2 Site-bound Different Place 3 4 Site-independent

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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

14. 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)

15. 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)

16. For more information … • Website: http://www.athabascau.ca/lc/ • Email: asklc@athabascau.ca

17. Thank you • Pat Fahy (patf@athabascau.ca) • 866-514-6234 • Nancy Steel (nancys@athabascau.ca) • 866-569-8051