Toward an effective model for implementing distance education programs

Abstract

As a response to the challenges and constraints now facing postsecondary education, institutions are attempting to find new strategies that will more effectively address the need for change in the way educational services are provided. In early September 1995, three institutions in Alberta, Canada—the University of Alberta, Fairview College, and Kayas Cultural College—embarked on a new partnership in offering a selected number of introductory Faculty of Arts courses in remote northwestern regions of the province. The primary mode of delivery was synchronized, multi‐point videoconferencing (to as many as six sites), with all courses delivered from the University of Alberta campus. Slightly more than 70% of the student cohort for the first academic year were Aboriginal. This discussion highlights the implementation and evaluation of this partnership and proposes a model for the effective planning and implementation of distance education initiatives.