Editorial
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VOL. 8, No. 1, 1-7
June 15, 1993, marks the tenth anniversary of the day educators from across Canada met via audioconferencing to found the Canadian Association for Distance Education/L'association canadienne pour l'éducation à distance, CADE/ACED. The notion of holding the inaugural meeting of a professional association "over the phone" may seem, on the one hand, quite unorthodox and, on the other, quintessentially Canadian for a country proud of Alexander Graham Bell. Dedicating an issue of a scholarly journal to the celebration of this anniversary may also seem unorthodox for a small "c" conservative country not prone to overt displays of pride in its accomplishments.
The goal of this issue differs somewhat from the usual aim of the Journal, which is "to promote and encourage scholarly work of an empirical and theoretical nature." By providing insights into the history of distance education in Canada, our contributors add to the body of knowledge that is the historical foundation of our profession. Purists will note that history is broadly defined to include some significant developments since the 1960s.
But even a whole issue of a journal cannot begin to cover the history of distance education in Canada. As guest editor, I have tried to provide a context for the articles in this special issue. Other publications, such as those noted below, give further information on the rich developments in this field, and Communiqué, CADE/ACED's newsletter, is a valuable resource for new initiatives.
The history of distance education in Canada is interwoven with the invention of new communications technologies, the expansion of education, particularly adult education, and the commitment of individual Canadians who had a vision that communications technologies could extend learning opportunities and promote the full participation of all Canadians in the economic, social, and civic life of the nation. In such a large and diverse country, it is not surprising that communications have played a significant role. Nor is it surprising that our governments have recognized the potential of communications technologies and have been instrumental in their development and application. Similarly, it is no surprise that partnerships have been a cornerstone in the provision of distance education.
Distance education has helped to increase accessibility to education since the late nineteenth century. For instance, in 1889, Queen's University began offering university courses by correspondence. In 1919, in response to the request of a lighthouse keeper for elementary school courses, British Columbia began to offer correspondence courses. By the mid 1920s, the ministries of education in Nova Scotia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Manitoba had all established correspondence branches to offer primary and secondary school courses, particularly to students in rural communities.
As new communications technologies were invented, innovative educators were quick to experiment with them and, when appropriate, to adopt them. For example, in 1925–26, the University of Alberta broadcast lectures over Edmonton's private radio station CJCA. During the 1930s and 1940s, St. Francis Xavier University's Extension Department used radio to support its adult education programs. In 1938, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) started to allocate time for school broadcasts on the radio network, and two years after television was introduced to Canada in 1952, the CBC conducted experiments with educational television. During the 1970s, educators tried out such new technologies as telidon (Canada's videotex system), videodisc, computer-assisted instruction, audio conferencing, fibre optics, and communications satellites.
Coincident with the proliferation of technology in the 1970s was the etablishment of a number of institutions devoted to distance education, among them the Télé-université du Québec (1972), Athabasca University (1972), North Island College (1975), and the Open Learning Institute (1978). In addition, four provinces founded provincial educational communications agencies: Radio Quebec, 1968; the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, later named TVOntario, 1970; Access Alberta, 1973; and the Knowledge Network of the West, 1980 (which was merged with the Open Learning Institute in 1988 to create the Open Learning Agency). As part of their mandate, these agencies develop and/or broadcast credit courses, programs designed to complement classroom instruction, and general interest educational programming.
Distance education has also actively contributed to the professional development and vocational or job-related training of Canadians. For instance, distance education has played an important part in enabling school teachers to obtain university degrees and thereby upgrade their qualifications. In addition, the private correspondence schools, which offer a range of courses leading to recognized credentials, are also significant players in this area. A recent specific example is the University of Ottawa, which, with support from the Secretary of State, used audiographic conferencing to offer courses to teachers of French immersion programs in 1984–85. A few years later, the University became involved in collaborative projects with a number of high technology firms to offer courses (tailored to suit the schedules of employees) at the worksite.
Community participation is another application of distance education. One of the earliest examples was the internationally famous Farm Radio Forum, a collaborative initiative launched in 1940 by the CBC, the Canadian Association for Adult Education, and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. Groups of farm men and women would gather in their kitchens to listen to a radio broadcast and then, with the help of the Farm Forum Guide, discuss the issues raised in the broadcast. Each group would submit its reactions, ideas, and comments to the provincial secretary, and a summary of their views would be broadcast the following week. Periodically, the responses of farmers in all provinces would be broadcast to provide a national perspective. With its slogan, "read, listen, discuss, act," Farm Radio Forum was instrumental in improving the quality of rural life and influencing the development of agricultural policies until it was disbanded in 1965. This model was also used as the basis for other programs, such as Citizens' Forum and Labour Forum. In addition, the model has been adopted in over 40 countries to provide adult education.
Aboriginal peoples have also used communications technologies for community education and participation. For instance, the Cree and Ojibwa in northwestern Ontario used radio in the 1970s and 1980s to convey information and a sense of community to people living in small communities across a large area. In the north, the Indian Brotherhood of the Northwest Territories used radio for educational programs, while the Inuit Tapirisat established community radio stations to preserve the Inuit culture and language and to promote pride in their heritage. In 1992, Television Northern Canada was launched by six aboriginal broadcast groups, the government of the Northwest Territories, Yukon College, and the National Aboriginal Society to provide a range of programming to the peoples of the north.
As this overview suggests, distance education has played an important role in the lives of Canadians for over a century - providing credit courses, professional development, training, general interest courses, and opportunities for community participation. Three major threads- - innovation, risk-taking, and collaboration - are woven through the rich history of Canadian distance education and appear in this celebration of its achievements.
One innovation that has had a profound effect on distance education is the use of communications satellites, a technology that is invisible to the vast majority of teachers and learners. The experiments with satellites in the 1970s demonstrated their viability, led to the establishment and expansion of educational communications agencies, and produced other spin-off educational activities. The first three articles form a trilogy that describes the beginnings of Canada's communications satellites.
Doris Jelly traces the Canadian space story with a particular emphasis on the applications of communications satellites. Jelly outlines the teamwork of the scientists working on the development of Canada's space program and the vision of Dr. John Chapman, whose 1967 report stressed that space technology was "so directly related to the needs of a large, sparsely populated country" that "the elements of space technology vital to Canada must be under Canadian control." As a result, in 1972, the first "Anik" satellite was launched, and in 1976, the Hermes satellite program began. The subsequent field trials in tele-health, tele-education, audioconferencing, community communications, and direct-to-home broadcasting revolutionized communications in Canada.
In the second part of the trilogy, Terry Kerr describes the introduction of educational applications for communications satellites in Canada. Kerr includes an overview of field trials in different regions of the country and a discussion on the role of the Department of Communications' co-ordinators. Here again, there is evidence of partnerships, innovation, and the willingness of educators to conduct experiments.
Part three, which is an excerpt from a 1977 report by Judy Roberts et al., provides a record of one of the experiments referred to in the Jelly and Kerr articles. From Roberts's account, it is evident that those involved with this pioneering work showed great flexibility as well as organizational capacity as they attended to the logistics of this undertaking, including the development of contingency plans for every conceivable human and technical communications mishap. The article provides a context for the present Telemedicine Centre at Memorial University.
While the papers on Canada's communications satellites provide personal and descriptive accounts of this critical time in the history of distance education, Louise Moran's analyzes the political and educational influences on the development of the Open Learning Institute of British Columbia. Individual determination and partnership are evidenced by the actions of Patrick McGeer, then minister of education, and Walter Hardwick, then deputy minister of education. These two "mixed a touch of hubris with pragmatic political judgements that a separate institute, adequately empowered, was the only way to ensure that the innovations they desired would be implemented as they wanted." Moran also argues that "a major feature of the first and second phases of distance education was the difficulty its protagonists had in persuading more conventional colleagues that distance education need not be a second- rate method of teaching/learning; indeed that it could be eminently satisfying, effective, and of high intellectual quality."
The difficulties experienced by innovative individuals echo in Margaret Norquay's personal reflections on the establishment of Ryerson's Open College. Norquay provides a first-hand account of some of the resistance to Open College, a pioneer in the teaching of university credit courses via radio in the 1970s and a leader in open admissions policy. In addition, Norquay presents recollections of learners, many of whom were women, who benefited from the "launching pad" that Open College provided for further study at other universities.
In the next article, France Henri examines a fundamental challenge inherent in the theory of distance education, that is, the proposition that distance education is transforming the educational process and democratizing learning through the learners' control over their learning. She questions the practice of distance education according to its coherency and relevance to the theory. Using the Télé-université as a case study, she focuses her analysis on pedagogical materials to verify the extent to which the stated mandate of a distance learning institution is coherent with its educational practice. Her conclusions raise questions about the convergence, or divergence, between the stated mandate of many distance education institutions, the underlying value systems, and the nature of the pedagogical materials developed and used by the institutions.
Margaret Landstrom provides an enthusiastic record of the history of CADE/ACED from its founding ten years ago to today. She describes the range of activities undertaken by the Association and its resolve to practice what it preaches by conducting many of its workshops and conferences, as well as its meetings, by distance education media and methodologies. In many respects, the practices that have maintained the vibrancy and relevancy of CADE/ACED are those that mirror the themes in the special edition: innovation, risk taking, and collaboration.
In keeping with CADE/ACED's tradition of innovation, "Dialogue" records a conversation among four long-standing and active members of the Association: Erin Keough, Thérèse Lamy, Barbara Spronk, and Jim Bizzochhi, with moderator Liz Burge. They were invited to identify, but not to substantiate or resolve, key issues facing distance educators in the 1990s. Their issues include the implications of decreasing funding, the changing profile of the learners, and the increasing role of the private sector in distance education. Their conversation resonates with the themes of innovation and collaboration, while questions of context and the societal framework underpin it.
The last article is Jack Gray's letter to a former student, Lynette. Coincidentally, the ten-year time span of Lynette's course work corresponds to the first ten years of CADE/ACED's history. In this letter, Gray pays "tribute to an unusual student who earned her degree, like so many of our adult students, under difficult circumstances." The evidence of mutual respect and learning by both parties acts as a powerful beacon to remind us what this business of distance education is really all about.
This special edition of the Journal illuminates some of the rich history of distance education in Canada. It also poses some issues and challenges as we look into the future. Questions about the nature of education, values, and society are fundamental to this discourse. To quote Louise Moran:
In our daily lives we are surrounded by internal and external political pressures and views which consciously or not, we take into account in our policy-making and educational practice. Yet distance education research and publications have so far been very slim in this area. Learning how to analyze the past provides skills for present practice. The history and politics of distance education offer valuable insights into current and future policy directions and conflicts.
As with all CADE/ACED activities, this issue of the Journal was a collaborative effort. My appreciation goes to those who contributed papers, the reviewers, and the participants in "Dialogue." The donation of the audioconference bridge for "Dialogue" by the University of Ottawa and the contributions of the staff at the Centre for Distance Education at Simon Fraser University who do the word processing, translation, layout, printing, and distribution of the Journal are gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are given to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Simon Fraser University for their generous financial support for the Journal. I thank Monique Layton, Co-Editor of the Journal for her important contribution, particularly in ensuring the quality of the French translations. My final appreciation goes to Joan Collinge, Co-Editor of the Journal, for her patience, assistance, and ongoing support.
Angeconeb, G. (1982, April). Wa-wa-ta. Ontario Indian. Faris, R. (1975). The passionate educators. Toronto: Peter Martin. Jackson, M. E. (1992, February/March). Launching the people's network. Up here.
Jelly, D. H. (1988). Canada 25 years in space. Montreal: Polyscience Publications.
Kidd, J. R. (1979). Some preliminary notes concerning an enquiry into the heritage of Canadian adult education. Vancouver: University of British Columbia, Centre for Continuing Education.
Mugridge, I., & Kaufman, D. (Eds.). (1986). Distance education in Canada. London: Croom Helm.
Selman, G. R. (1991). Citizenship and the adult education movement in Canada. Vancouver: University of British Columbia, Centre for Continuing Education.