Eagle Ridge: A case study of
virtual schooling in
Alberta, Canada[1]
by
William J. Hunter
The
University of Calgary
published in
Computers in New Zealand Schools
21
October 2001
Eagle Ridge Academy[2] is located in a Western Canadian city. For many years it functioned as a centre for adult basic education and it still has this role. More recently, however, Eagle Ridge has made a major departure from its normal delivery methods and is now offering many of its courses and programs, including the Alberta high school curriculum, through asynchronous online delivery.
The local public school system had a long history of
using teacher consultants as change agents with respect to the use of
technology, but budget reductions has returned most of these people to
classroom teaching roles. The system had also experimented with “teacher
explorer centres”--sites of exemplary practice that were given funding for
special projects subject to their willingness to share their expertise with
other system teachers. Eagle Ridge
Academy became a leader in technology-based learning by using both the teacher
consultant and the explorer centre models in its online learning program.
Methodology
There were five members of the research team involved at various times during the week of the onsite visits. Two teacher groups were interviewed for periods of about 2-3 hours. A two-hour interview was held with a central administrator with direct supervisory responsibility for Eagle Ridge. Three interviews of two to three hours were conducted with a program administrator responsible for Eagle Ridge Academy (a principal-equivalent). Interviews of approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours were held with the technical coordinator and course developers.
A group of four local students was interviewed onsite and two distance students (from the Northwest Territories) were interviewed via audio conference. These interviews were about an hour and a quarter in length.
All interviews were tape-recorded and included at least two interviewers with one asking the prescribed questions and at least one other actively taking notes and asking follow-up questions as needed.
Observations were made both in classrooms and in the
areas where the computers were located but since the program is online, observations
were not especially useful. A variety
of program documents (e.g., course booklet, class timetable, course outlines,
newsletters) were collected and included as data sources.
BACKGROUND
Eagle Ridge developed the technology specialist role
on a more proactive basis by developing connections with all high schools in
the city. According to a systems
administrator, “Eagle Ridge created a
cyber school district, not just a cyber school.” She says Eagle Ridge enlarged
upon the explorer centre concept by focusing on professional development for
teachers.
When Eagle Ridge shifted its mission and changed its
name, becoming an “academy” rather than a high school, it also hired a new
staff member with experience in online learning as a “virtual education
associate.” She is credited by school
administration and by Eagle Ridge teachers with having the vision and
leadership that has led the school to develop online versions of Alberta’s high
school courses and with creating a system of professional development that has
encouraged many teachers to learn about and use online learning tools (WebCT).
Early Resistance
One system administrator acknowledged that there was
some resistance from the Board of Education.
Concerns included a lack of available funding, philosophical
differences, and power struggles within the board. Some senior
administrators were also resistant, perhaps due to lack of understanding. The technical coordinator at Eagle Ridge
said that he believes some board members preferred to view online learning as a
potential way of generating revenue rather than as a “great tool for our
students.”
Some instructors had
concerns about contracts, comfort, change, tradition, and funding. Because Eagle Ridge “operates outside of the
regular school system and particularly around some union issues” (administrator
interview), most Eagle Ridge teachers are contract instructors, paid on an
hourly basis. They have been willing to
work extra hours that are not covered within the contract in order to acquire
the skills necessary for online teaching. Some teachers tried the technology but did not
feel comfortable with it. Others feared
change or felt allegiance to the traditional class and the traditional
environment (e.g., they worried about losing student numbers in traditional
classes or about having decreased interpersonal contact with students).
It’s 1998 and a
group of Eagle Ridge teachers are on the road to attend the “Symposium on
Online Learning.” Alberta’s early
development of virtual schools resulted in the creation of an “online
consortium” for teacher development, comparable to the regional consortia that
provide workshops and courses throughout the province. The symposium is the major annual event for
the online consortium.
The virtual
education associate arranged for this group of teachers to attend the
symposium, confident they would learn to share her enthusiasm for new kinds of
delivery. But it wasn’t to be. Typical
concerns were:
“I didn’t understand
half of what I heard.”
“Why would I want to
teach if I couldn’t see the kids?”
“Who has time for
all that work?”
“I’d be
embarrassed—the kids know so much about technology.”
Lesson learned. At future symposia only handpicked
individuals who had shown interest and curiosity were invited. They came back eager to learn more.
The system administrator interviewed credits the virtual education associate with playing a primary role in overcoming resistance. She made the appropriate connections for developing the online program, e.g., with Alberta Learning, high school teachers, principals, etc. Her low key, grass roots approach was quiet, purposeful, and successful. She sat on many senior administrative level committees with superintendents and noted their lack of knowledge about technology and its potential impact on learning. She invited senior administrators to take the professional development course (but few did). She gave teachers opportunities to play and experiment with commuters. She invited instructors known to be open to trying new ideas to use the new technology. Technological proficiency was not required. Resistance to the online program has lessened as more teachers have come online.
Eagle Ridge has
dramatically reversed this resistance. High school principals who originally
were opposed to the initiative have been persuaded by their own teachers to
reverse positions and to pay Eagle Ridge $5000 per year for teacher development
activity.
Technology Decisions
In the beginning, the school system had a variety of
different email systems, chat programs, web page formats, and servers in use at
different schools. Those involved in
developing the online program at Eagle Ridge felt that many of the existing
technology alternatives were too technologically sophisticated and, therefore,
required steep learning curves. If they
were to succeed in attracting more teachers, then the online program had to
have a more manageable learning curve for instructors. WebCT, an online management system developed
by educators for the grass roots level, was chosen for the online program.
WebCT is known to be robust, versatile, and secure. It had been chosen by the school system’s further education unit to be used for all on-line high school credit courses, and Eagle Ridge Academy chose it for its online courses after looking at sixteen course development and delivery packages. WebCT was a way to “centre the vision” in this new community and provide tools for teachers with limited technical skills.
Unfortunately, some school board members regarded WebCT as “a third rate product.” (They had experience with expensive alternatives used in business.) It seemed clear that this resistance would prevent WebCT from becoming a system-wide initiative. Eagle Ridge decided to develop the WebCT courses on its own, despite the resistance. Seven courses were developed with WebCT and piloted to see if the WebCT tools would work and if instructors and students required more training in order to be successful in the online setting.
Program Development
In the late 1990’s, the provincial department of education developed a curriculum for information technologies and mandated that ICT skills be part of the teaching of every subject at every grade level. The province also provided some funding that schools and jurisdictions could access, mainly for hardware purchases. However, little was done to provide for the professional development and training components to support such a substantial change. Eagle Ridge staff regarded this void as an opportunity and they have been responsible for offering “about five thousand” ICT development course registrations per semester to teachers in the school system and in other Alberta districts.
The following vignette was assembled to characterize the way one student might engage with studies at Eagle Ridge. The vignette is fiction but it represents information acquired through interviews with teachers and staff and through observations of school functions.
Peter McNaulty hated the sound of a ringing telephone, especially early in the morning following a late gig. The clock radio said 9:30 in bold red letters, but this was far too early for Peter, who liked to get up at the crack of noon.
“Peter?” He recognized the all-too-cheerful sound of Celia Cartwright’s voice, “It’s Mrs. Cartwright at Eagle Ridge. Mr. Goodwin is wondering if you will have the force and motion assignment for him today.”
“Huh?” Talk
about a rude awakening! “Oh, yeah, Physics.
Right. I have to be at work by 1:30, but I will send him an attachment
before I go.”
“That’s great, Mickey. Everything else OK?”
“Well, yeah, I still got a lot of reading before I can start the English 30 essay, but I am getting there.”
“OK, then, I’ll tell Mr. Goodwin to check his email around 2:00. Bye.”
“Yeah, thanks, bye.
“I’d never finish high school if not for Eagle Ridge,” Mickey thought, “but getting up like this is still a pain in the butt.”
Mickey is 20 years old and still has three courses left to finish high school. He left at 16 and has been working in fast food restaurants and playing bass guitar for various bands ever since. Eagle Ridge Academy lets him complete courses over the computer using WebCT at a pace and on a schedule that fits with his other activities. He hopes this time next year to be attending a local technical institute studying who knows what, but he knows he is on a path to something more than flipping burgers.
Administrative overview
The program administrator said that all new courses “must fit the instructional design standards and development standards.” This represents a more rigorous implementation of curriculum standards than might ordinarily be observed. Eagle Ridge has taken on emerging online responsibilities with the development of the program:
1. The first phase of responsibility was linked to the needs of older adolescents and adult learners returning to a learning environment. Flexible self-pacing environments responsive to a variety of learning styles were required.
2. The second phase was linked to the needs of lifelong learning, especially for learners “who have been unsuccessful in traditional classroom practice.” Best practices in teaching and learning were used to create learning communities online for active learning with “clear and high expectations.” As a result of this second response and the changing technology requirements (need for companion applications such as video cams and palm pilot, for plug-ins such as Acrobat Reader and Flash, for increased band width and high speed Internet access, etc.), WebCT will be replaced by a new program called Quickplace which is being brought in on a provincial level and will be used at Eagle Ridge for designing six courses.
3. The third phase is linked to the disruption and innovation of changing technology. Standards are being addressed including a) delivery standards (learning philosophy, prerequisite knowledge, student preparation, prior learning identification, and community participation/support network), b) instructional standards (community professional development, interactions, goals, evaluation and assessment strategies, troubleshooting, and customizing learning), c) working standards (hours, access, roles, and support/development), and d) feedback/evaluation standards. (In addressing these standards, prior outside standards must be taken into consideration, e.g., the development standards must take into consideration the standards of the board of education , the provincial teaching quality standards, and instructional design standards.
4. The fourth phase involves the development of seven different models for distributive learning that are intended to meet a variety of learning needs.
Eagle Ridge Academy is not solely an online school. It has the legal authority to administer high school diplomas and has done so through traditional methods for many years. Students must have completed six semesters of high school before enrolling at Eagle Ridge to complete the courses needed for a diploma. Students at Eagle Ridge who wish to earn high school credits can enrol in regular classroom courses or in the Independent Learning Program (ILP). Within ILP, students have the choice of print classes (six intakes per year) or online courses (six intakes per year). In addition, students may take the regularly scheduled classes as independent studies. If a student is not successful in one mode, he/she may transfer to another. Over 200 students are enrolled in on line courses, and the program administrator says that students are being turned away. The Academy’s student information brochure suggests that the online program is more difficult (than face-to-face instruction) since students must be able to work independently and have organizational skills. Eagle Ridge has twice as many students in the print program as in the online program “because our adult learners tell us that they are not comfortable using these technologies.”
Students in ILP can access tutorials and resources in the Learning Resource Centre (LRC). The LRC has tapes, books, CD ROMs, videos, special collections (for ESL, literacy, and math), computer programs, Internet access, database access, career resources, and computer assisted learning (CAL) or computer tutorials for self-directed information literacy). Courses include high school courses and electives (e.g., English, mathematics, science, social studies, sociology, and psychology) and Career and Technology Studies courses (Information Processing, Financial Management, Job Preparation, and Foods/Fashion). Five-credit courses are 16 weeks, and one-credit courses are six weeks.
The students follow their own schedules, access tutorials and LRC resources, and phone/fax/or email instructors. Students are required to contact instructors at least once a week to remain in the program. Students in the print class must register for an orientation session to meet the instructor, to receive course materials, and to receive information about expectations. Students in the online course take an online orientation and a Fast Track to Online Learning course (approximately five hours). Some online courses might have face-to-face meetings for labs, seminars, or tests. Online students must have computers and Internet access.
Like the previous vignette, this one is a fictional account based on case study data. It illustrates the diversity of students and approaches at Eagle Ridge.
Shen Xuan saw the bright Eagle Ridge binder on the counter by her customer’s coffee mug. He was reading, but she thought it would be ok to interrupt.
“Hi. You go to Eagle Ridge? Me too.”
“I don’t really ‘go’ to Eagle Ridge. I mean, I take their courses, but I do the work at home—or in here.”
“I work here too. I mean I do school work when it’s slow. I am also in the online program at Eagle Ridge, but I can’t do much at home cause we don’t have a computer.”
“Whoa! How do you manage? I mean we’ve always had at least one computer. I have my own now, but my dad has had one for years.”
“It’s not bad. We came here from Taiwan 7 years ago, and we don’t have the money for a computer yet. Too many other expenses. But I used to use the labs at Eagle Ridge or the computers in the library. My daughter is at the university now, so I go there with her and there are plenty of computers I can use. And I use all the other resources at the university library.”
“You must get a lot of good stuff there. I’ll have to try that, but I got to admit, I like the net a lot more than the library.”
“Oh, not me. I hated computers when I started.”
“Then how could you do the work? I mean between word processing, net searching, Power Point presentations, and web page development, it seems my whole education depends on my computer skills. I actually left regular high school cause I couldn’t cope with books and papers.”
“Eagle Ridge has this whole information processing skills course I had to take at the very beginning. I even had to learn typing. I was scared and confused a lot in the beginning, but the teachers built in some talking help and some “click here” demos. Eventually, I got it; I learned to use email, chat discussion groups, web browsers, and lots of other stuff.”
“Well, I gotta respect that. Hey, do you know Cynthia? She comes in here too. She’s a full time student at my old school, but she takes an Eagle Ridge course every term for fun. I guess it takes all kinds.”
“Yeah. More coffee?”
To ensure that students entering the online program have the necessary technology skills, they are required to take the Information Processing course prior to enrolling in online courses. (HC) The Information Processing course (part of Career and Technology Studies) is a one-credit course of 17-25 hours. Interactions between students and with instructors are through email, chat, and bulletin board. Students are expected to a) contact the instructor 1-2 times per week, b) schedule time for their course work, c) set up a personal work area, and d) set realistic deadlines. The advisor is expected to help students achieve success. The administrative assistant troubleshoots email problems.
Course components include the following: a) student work plan—which must be updated; b) due dates—for which marks are awarded if dates are met; c) assignments—which include both written and project assignments related to software applications; d) work station routine demonstrations—which include understanding of copyright issues, ability to manage files, etc.; and e) final assessment—which includes self-assessment.
Much of the professional development for teachers at Eagle Ridge comes about through interactions among the staff themselves. For example, one online teacher at Eagle Ridge said, “It’s a sharing environment--people are learning things.” Another said, “I hear a lot more dialogue about teaching and learning than I have seen in other staff rooms at other schools.” Most of the Eagle Ridge teachers also take evening courses on their own time to find out about teaching and learning in online courses, training for WebCT, and guidelines for the use of Power Point
Teachers interested in the online program or shell course must go through an in-house professional development program (Level 1). At the end of the Level 1 course, which is delivered online, teachers may decide if they want to be part of the online program. About 20% decline to be involved. The Level 2 course (Active Teaching) redefines their role in an online course and provides ongoing opportunities to share mutual teaching problem and idea exchange. Staff development online also includes face-to-face- meetings. In one year, Eagle Ridge trained over 150 teachers within the school district. Teachers are on waiting lists for the training (300 on one waiting list).
A team of teachers is currently designing and developing further levels (e.g., instructional design) in the professional development program. The professional development program is funded by charging for the training offered to teachers outside of the local school system.
Technical support
is also available from technical coordinators and technical staff. The technical coordinator has had to become
familiar with all courses involved in the program. The Teaching and Learning Office at Eagle
Ridge Academy offers activities and provides resources to aid instructors in
developing their courses. For example,
a) the “Virtual Staff Centre” is a Web CT environment in which staff are shown
how to post messages, send email, and chat; b) virtual team leaders and
associates aid staff members; c) informal noon hour information sessions
provide topics of interest to the ILP. Three
full-time professional development staff train all teaching staff and run the
virtual staff centre.
One Eagle Ridge teacher suggested that technology is a catalyst for innovation. “I am not here because I embrace technology; I’m here because it creates innovation. It is a catalyst for innovation, it’s a catalyst for re-thinking and re-design, and it brings the debate back to the table. And it must be rejected for as many reasons as it is brought forward and nurtured.” Another teacher supported this notion saying, “I have found that it has been my experience that it (technology) has allowed us to examine practice again and rise the bar everywhere. So it’s been that catalyst. It can elevate standards.” These observations are compatible with the assertion of the school system administrator who said that the focus at Eagle Ridge “has always been using technology to enhance the learning experience, not just using technology to provide the learning experience.”
Teachers at Eagle Ridge use the technology to enhance learning and deliver content in a new way. While teachers need technical instruction, e.g., how to compress sound files using Web CT, some reported in the interviews that they essentially view the technology as “just one more tool.” A science teacher is enthusiastic about being able to replace old science videos with online experiments, which he would not be allowed to do in a student laboratory, experiments with hazardous compounds or human fluids. For these teachers, it may be that technology is not actually changing their approach, only extending it. In the same setting, then, technology may be a tool for doing the job as you know it or a catalyst for change depending on the intentions and backgrounds of the teachers involved.
Innovative student projects motivated teachers in the program to learn additional technical skills, and enthusiastic teachers in the program shared experiences and motivated other teachers to become involved. Evening courses were developed for teachers who wished to learn the technical skills necessary for teaching on line. Experienced teachers in the online program became the course facilitators for the professional development courses. Teachers were invited to WebCT demonstrations and professional development courses. Perhaps the most critical development in persuading teachers to accept the online program has been the development of a sharing environment. The initial group of early adopters shared successes and failures; the sharing continues.
While teachers may regard the delivery method as the innovative part of the work at Eagle Ridge, the program administrator suggests that the distributed learning model and the standards being set at Eagle Ridge are their greatest innovations. Since Eagle Ridge has the support of the board of education in this work, this model “will ripple not only throughout the learning environments here, independent learning and classroom learning, but it will ripple throughout our jurisdiction. . . . So I guess in terms of innovation we have created a model that can be shared widely and broadly.”
The sharing
dynamic described above hardly seems like a universal feature in the adoption
of innovations. It is not simply a
matter of the innovation gaining force and popularity; it is a matter of
teachers seeking to share what they know.
Whether this sharing is a function of the professional choices and
obligations that come with teaching or a feature of technological innovation
cannot be determined from the data available in this study.
Infrastructure ceased to be an issue at Eagle Ridge because they made computer access the student’s responsibility. Equipment is available in the school, but students can also get access elsewhere since the courses are on the Internet. The fact that some students and some teachers at Eagle Ridge opt to work in print formats might be taken as evidence that the students’ competence is a key issue in determining whether a program might succeed; but in an environment of choice, students who have the competencies can gain access to a program that meets their needs. It seems as though the impetus at Eagle Ridge is the desire to increase the technical competencies of teachers.
Student ICT competence is important for success in the program. However, students can learn the required skills in the orientation program. The program administrator put it this way: “The level of student ICT skills in the adolescent group is very high but it is average to low among the adult group.” Students are required to take the Information Processing courses before enrolling in online courses. The students do eight assignments before entering on line courses. Researchers noted in their classroom observations that both teachers and other students helped individual students who were experiencing difficulty..
Despite the importance of infrastructure and student ICT competence, the instructors and administrators interviewed at Eagle Ridge agree that implementation is primarily dependent on staff competence. For this reason, instructors choose professional development courses that focus on technical expertise. Skills and lessons are shared among the teachers, and technical expertise is available. Specialized staff members are available at Eagle Ridge to help teachers—with video graphics, with web page design, and with spinning (designing/developing) courses. In addition, a full-time editor was hired to support the standards and the professional development initiative was extended to an eight level program. Initially three people developed the program content; last year they worked with 80 teachers to develop the content currently being used.
According to the teachers interviewed at Eagle Ridge, content of ICT courses is not a problem—if teachers are given resources and time to develop online courses. Work is adapted to the needs, interests, and styles of individual teachers. The shell courses developed for teachers allow the teacher to customize and personalize the print recourse, e.g., with names, pictures, and examples. This procedure, “spinning a course,” allows the teacher to put his/her stamp on the course.
Equity and access
Students
at Eagle Ridge seem to have equal access to ICT. When the program began, the decision to avoid fixing computers
and upgrading software led to the requirement that students must obtain their
own computer access. The tech
coordinator recalls only one call concerning a student having problems
obtaining computer access. While most
students do own computers, the students can do their work in the library or
wherever Internet access is available.
The online courses are web based so students do not require advanced
technology. They require only basic
programs such as word processing, spreadsheets, and perhaps some design tools.
It might
well be argued that this reliance on personal ownership is a form of inequity,
but the availability of access to equipment in the school, in libraries and
other community sites seems to have meant that those who want access can get
it. On the other hand, the print-based
ILP program may provide a low technology alternative that defuses any criticism
of the online program.
There do
seem to be some ways in which students interested in the online program differ
from the general student population, however.. According to one teacher, males are drawn to
the exploratory nature of ICT whereas the females are pragmatic in their use of
ICT. Students who have trouble in the
traditional classroom may be drawn to these technologies, but it is not clear
if it is because they think it is easier or more entertaining. High end users are drawn because they want
to fast track. The middle range student
does not seem to be drawn. Students who do not have time management or
self-management skills are not likely to do well in either the online or ILP
program.
Like many
other virtual schools, Eagle Ridge finds itself serving those who self-select
out of traditional education. This
includes students with special educational needs. One of the teachers told about one particularly compelling
example:
The school loomed in front of Jamie.
It was maybe 75 meters from where the car was parked. It was a sunny, clear fall day. Most people would have said “perfect
weather,” but not Jamie. Weather was
never good—weather was outdoors. Jamie
was agoraphobic.
He clenched his teeth, sucked up his nerve, looked both ways several
times, and set out. It was terrifying;
the Alberta sky
goes on forever. Inside the
gigantic doors were gigantic hallways.
Jamie couldn’t feel safe here either, but at least it was inside. He saw a face he recognized from a web page.
“Mr. Goodwin,” he said, “I’m
Jamie. I sure hope you can help me
enough to make this all worth it.”
Jamie was
22 and agoraphobic. He had been out of
circulation since he was 16. He found
Eagle Ridge Academy and took Math 10 online—his first outside communication
(except family and health professionals) in six years. There came a time when he needed to sit down
at a computer with a teacher. He took
the risk and went to the school. He
then went on to complete other courses.
At the time of the site visit, he was in a work placement assisting the
course developers at Eagle Ridge. Much
of his work is online, but he visits periodically, and Mr. Goodwin says he is
making excellent progress.
It seems to be axiomatic at Eagle Ridge that online learning materials should be of high quality. Eagle Ridge is addressing five levels of standards in order to respond to online learning needs. Learning philosophy and student preparations are part of the delivery standards being addressed. “The standards provincially tend to be more technical rather than instructional or design standard,” according to the program administrator. Teachers are required to take professional development courses to aid them in providing online instruction. Standards are set for retraining teachers.
These initiatives to develop high quality ICT material and to uphold standards in online program material are meant to maintain high academic standards. Assessment of the program’s success will be done at the end of the year. While it is too early to assess, anecdotal comments suggest that some students improve their grades. The systems administrator suggests that the program “keeps students engaged in learning.” Students in the Northwest Territories seem to have higher completion rates with online learning. According to one Eagle Ridge teacher interviewed, most students completed on line math courses; only 10% completed the print course for math. (However, other variables may be at work since the print course requires an even more independent learner.) Another teacher reported, “I had 18 students in the class and all of them completed all of the tasks. It seems to me that it was the first time that I had that happen.”
Teachers interviewed spoke about the different role of online students. These students cannot easily fault the class atmosphere or teacher role and, therefore, must take responsibility for their performance. The student’s online role is more active since each student communicates regularly with the teacher. Indeed, communication is the key to online instruction. Teachers have been surprised by the amount of interaction, responsibility, innovation, responsiveness, and excitement generated in the program. The program administrator reported that a teacher recently told her: “I’ve never taught a course before where 90% of my time was spent working with students.”
According to some teachers, students in the online courses seem to respond to questions on the Internet that they wouldn’t in class. Students interviewed suggested that flexibility, self-pacing, and teacher attention are benefits of the online course. Students receive individual and timely feedback from the teacher. Students often work in pairs or small groups; they ask questions. The teacher’s role is transformational. The teachers suggest that lifelong, collaborative learning is important. The innovative work of individual skilled students is an incentive for less technically skilled student to learn skills.
A sequel to an earlier vignette may shed light on the way students interviewed for this study regard their work at Eagle Ridge:
“Hi. You must be Shen. Gary told me you work here and go to Eagle Ridge. I’m Cynthia.”
“Did he say I go to Eagle Ridge?”
“Actually, he did. He said it never occurred to him that
people would actually go there rather than learn at home.”
“Gary is quite the techie, isn’t he?”
“Sort of. I mean he likes it and all that, but he’s not a nerd.”
“But you go to regular school and Eagle Ridge—is that
cause you want the techie touch?”
“Sort of. I mean, at first I did. I was goofing around in
chat sessions and ICQ and stuff and I thought, ‘Geez, I might as
well learn this way.’ But once I started, it was completely
different. I get messages from my Eagle Ridge teachers like every
day. Even Sunday, like, don’t they ever rest? Anyways, it seems
odd and nobody believes me, but I keep going to Eagle Ridge because I get more feedback on my work from the teachers. And because I meet a whole new group of people. Like, is your last name spelled ‘X-U-A-N’? I think you are in English 20 with me.”
“Oh, that Cynthia. You know what you were saying
about Shakespeare. . . .”
But no educational program is without difficulties. The program administrator suggests that “Some students are inappropriately drawn to (the online program). . . . They are still waiting for someone else to do the thinking.” She wonders if this is “a design issue or is it an organizational issue or is it because this learner isn’t really ready?”
The technology coordinator (who is also a teacher) suggests that “The most negative aspect of ICT may be that it creates an illusion of being easy.” Students familiar with computers who are accepted into the program may not realize that they still have to read and perhaps work hard because of the independent nature of online learning. The program administrator acknowledges that there is a level of abuse in which students copy from the Internet just as they might copy from the encyclopaedia. Students also connect to sites which “are not always learning.” Eagle Ridge does have an acceptable use policy and can remove Internet privilege where there is inappropriate use. “But, quite honestly, we miss far more than we catch.”
Eagle Ridge Academy has unique elements, which have contributed to the success of its online program. Alberta also has unique elements which support implementation of technology-based innovations, e.g., the ICT curriculum and the fact that Alberta Learning provided additional funding for schools for technological infrastructure. The Chief Superintendent and senior administration supported the program; the district provided additional personnel and budgetary support. The online consortium (48-50 jurisdictions in the province) supports and shares innovations in technology. Eagle Ridge sought and nurtured the support of these various organizations; it seems likely that Eagle Ridge will endeavour to maintain these relationships.
The success that Eagle Ridge has had in sharing its methodology and its courses with other schools in the system and with training teachers from other systems speaks well for the transferability of much of what goes on there. However, it is questionable whether the Eagle Ridge phenomenon could be reproduced elsewhere since a combination of the following unique elements contributed to its development:
· A creative and industrious technical coordinator, teacher and developer
Eagle Ridge may stand as proof-of-concept, but recreating a similar impact elsewhere will be a challenge. On the other hand, the task may not be to recreate this success, but to learn the lesson of building on the unique strengths and capacities of each school or program and to create wholly new successes that are as distinctive in their own right as Eagle Ridge.
[1] This work was partially supported by funding from the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada as part of an international study for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. A separate report of these results has been made to the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada.
[2] All names used in this article are pseudonyms.