Canadian Proprietary Correspondence Schools: Some Issues of Access and Technology |
VOL. 6, No. 1, 42-63
This paper describes the organizational structure and operating characteristics of proprietary distance education schools, a significant but largely unexamined sector of the post secondary education and training system in Canada. The contribution of proprietary schools to improved accessibility is treated in terms of access as entry, completion, and transition. These concepts are discussed with reference to evolving government policies of increased privatization and support for the distribution of instruction by non- traditional means, including distance education. The organizational structure of the proprietary schools is defined by their position along a continuum of distance education designs suggested in the literature as progressing from traditional, print-based correspondence provision to the "virtual classroom" requiring computer-mediated communications technology. The influence of communications technology is seen as central to the successful adaptation of proprietary distance education schools to the altered education and training requirements of the Canadian labour force.
Cet article décrit la structure, l'organisation et la gérance qui caractérisent les écoles privées d'éducation à distance, un secteur substantiel mais peu examiné du système de formation et d'éducation tertiaire au Canada. On y considère la contribution que ces écoles fournissent à l'amélioration de l'accès en termes de l'entrée, de la complétion et de la transition. On y discute de ces concepts dans le contexte de nouvelles directives du gouvernement vers l'intensification de la privatisation et l'encouragement à l'utilisation de moyens non-traditionnels, y compris l'éducation à distance. La structure selon laquelle les écoles du secteur privé sont organisées se définit au long d'un continuum de designs d'enseignement à distance que la littérature décrit comme progressant du modèle traditionnel par correspondance, basé sur le texte imprimé, jusqu'à la «salle de classe virtuelle» qui utilise la technologie de la communication par ordinateur. L'influence de cette technologie est considérée comme centrale au succès de l'adaptation des écoles privées d'éducation à distance aux changements des besoins d'éducation et de formation des travailleurs canadiens.
Proprietary correspondence schools have operated in Canada since 1890 and today enrol thousands of students in a wide range of vocational courses. Recent figures indicate over 36,000 students per year are served through home-study courses (Statistics Canada, 1988). Despite a consistent post secondary presence, the history of correspondence schools remains largely undocumented, and their current contribution to Canadian education and training is little recognized in the academic literature. Among the very few available references, Hope (1986) described the range of correspondence school courses available in Canada while the organization and governance structures of the larger schools were briefly discussed by Slade and Sweet (1989). The latter discussed government monitoring and professional accreditation with the "access-quality-funding triangle" that has framed recent discussions and reappraisals of the Canadian post secondary system (Skolnik, 1984).
This paper addresses the issue of access. More specifically, it considers the current and potential contribution of private sector correspondence education to the improvement of accessibility. For the purposes of this analysis, accessibility is expanded to include not just access of entry but access of completion and transition. Educational opportunity then is seen to encompass the availability of a range of programs suitable to the nontraditional, adult learner; the provision of student support services necessary for course completion and achievement; and relevance to the workplace of the skills and knowledge acquired. A profile of the correspondence schools based on recently gathered survey data is constructed across all three dimensions of the access concept. In assessing the correspondence schools in these terms, reference is made to:
Most correspondence schools offer some type of vocational training and thus are sensitive to changes in government educational policies that affect preparation of the workplace. Currently, both federal and provincial policy makers are preoccupied with the need to raise labour force training levels. The federal government in particular has expressed doubt as to the ability and adaptability of the labour force in a work environment increasingly defined by technology. Their concern is reflected in funding for training programs such as Canadian Job Strategies and the new Labour Force Development Strategy (Employment and Immigration Canada, 1989). These initiatives reflect a long-held belief in the economic value of personal and collective investment in education. The influence of human capital theory was apparent in the First Annual Review (1964) of the Economic Council of Canada, which stressed the need for creating and maintaining an adequate supply of professional, technical, and other highly skilled manpower as a basis for the future growth of the Canadian economy. Although somewhat diminished in the 1970s, support for human capital concepts are even stronger today than at the time of their introduction. This is the case not only in Canada but also in all countries whose economies are undergoing rapid and pervasive technological change (Perspectives, 1989).
In addition to acknowledging the contingent relationship between education and productivity, government policies recognize the necessity of expanding our national educational effort beyond the existing post secondary system to include the private sector. A general mobilization of post secondary resources includes encouraging greater diversity of educational provision with incentives to the private sector to become involved in determining the development and widest possible distribution of training programs. Recent policy statements from the First Ministers' Conference illustrate this heightened priority:
A need exists to develop greater private sector involvement in addressing questions of equity and access in education and training...and in increasing employment opportunities from entry through up- grading and promotion. (Twenty-Ninth Provincial Premiers' Conference, 1988)
In more tangible form, the government has supported the growth of in-house training programs and proprietary schools through seat purchase plans for vocational training and in revisions to student loan requirements (Carver, 1989). These decisions occur within a broader movement toward privatization and support for private schools at the elementary and secondary levels (Fisher, 1988).
A second policy direction supported by government in pursuit of improved access and effectiveness involves development of alternative forms of instructional provision. Dennison (1988), Fortin (1987), and others argue that improving access to further education and training requires acknowledging the realities of working life. The personal situations of most adults with family and job responsibilities preclude their participation in traditional forms of learning. For them, some form of home-study is necessary. The rise to prominence of distance education in the post secondary field is a response to this need and a reflection of the communications technology now available for instructional delivery (Mugridge & Kaufman, 1986; Sweet, 1989). The relationship between technology and access has been recognized in numerous government documents. For example, the recent Premiers' Conference position paper states:
Advances in telecommunications and computer technology are opening up new opportunities to improve accessibility to education and training for Canadians in all regions and walks of life. These developments present the provinces and territories with a major challenge in fully utilizing new technologies to meet the growing demands for education and training in an appropriate and cost-efficient way. (Twenty-Ninth Provincial Premiers' Conference, 1988)
Distance education is supported in most Canadian universities and many colleges. In some provinces dedicated distance delivery institutions have been established, as have educational television networks. These installations represent considerable investment of funds and, consequently, strong government commitment not just to the concept of distance education but also to the funded institutions operating the programs. Given the traditionally marginal position proprietary schools have occupied in relation to publicly funded education at all levels (Jackson & Gaskell, 1987), it is difficult to predict the impact this support for public institutions will have on the growth of proprietary distance education operations. Current educational policy does, however, lean toward both a measure of privatization and support for distance education as a vehicle for improving access. In assessing the range of alternatives, the Premiers' Conference suggested that "there may be opportunities for private sector participation in new distance education initiatives" (Twenty-Ninth Annual Premiers' Conference, 1988).
Proprietary correspondence schools, thus, are positioned at the intersection of both trends. Whether these schools are capable of contributing to the current reformulation of Canadian post secondary education will depend in large measure on their response to an expanded definition of access, a non-traditional clientele, and the changed demands of training. The basis for any such response is importantly related to the organizational structure of correspondence schools.
An overview of organization and governance structures of the correspondence school system in Canada has been presented by Slade and Sweet (1989). For the purposes of this paper, it is perhaps more useful to examine correspondence school structures in terms of course design and delivery. From this perspective, most analyses have defined distance education systems as to their level of interaction between student and institution. Scales (1983), for example, constructed a typology of distance education formats that differentiated the level and kinds of support provided students. Excluding non-interactive media (e.g., television) at one extreme of the provision continuum and the traditional classroom provision offered by a "travelling professor" at the other, Scales described four levels of interaction:
Type II: Provision is made for delayed two-way communication between learner and instructional agent (e.g., interaction through the mail);
Type III: Provision is made for coincident two-way communication between learner and instructional agent (e.g., interaction through telephone dialogue or with a computer);
Type IV: Provision is made to permit remote group interaction among learner, agent, and others (e.g., through teleconferencing or live interactive video);
Type V: Provision is made for occasional face-to-face interaction (e.g., seminars or clinical experiences).
Some form of interaction is important across all three types of access: entry for the mature or non- traditional student enrolling in a course of study is considerably eased through frequent contact with instructor and colleagues (McInnis-Rankin & Brindley, 1986); barriers to completion similarly are met more effectively through the greater personal support available from interactive communication (Sweet, 1986); and finally, more interactive systems allow the types of exchange amongst instructor and student that lead to higher-level cognitive skills and problem-solving strategies perceived to be increasingly necessary to the Canadian labour force (Employment & Immigration, 1989).
A number of recent articles have discussed the evolution of distance education design as a progression from first to third (and even fourth) generation systems (Garrison, 1985; Lauzon & Moore, 1989). Kaufman (1989) has described design in terms of three generations, differentiated by the emphasis each gives learner autonomy or control, the degree of dialogue between the student and instructor (and amongst students), and the extent to which higher level thinking skills are taught. First generation designs are primarily print-based and dependent on the postal service for delivery and feedback on written assignments although some use is made of the telephone to link student and instructor. Second generation designs make much greater use of telephone links to establish dialogue amongst students and instructor. To achieve this interaction, audioconferencing in addition to point-to-point communication is employed. Typically, the degree of student support is considerable with pre-enrolment counselling and study-skills training available. Third generation systems utilize all of the first and second generation means of delivery but as well employ computermediated communications technology to create an electronic or "virtual" classroom (Hiltz, 1986). These computer conferencing systems possess capabilities that allow extensive dialogue between students as well as between students and institutional advisors or tutors. In addition to increased interaction amongst participants, computer conferencing promotes problem identification, problem solving, and decision skills at an individual and group level (Harasim, 1987; Davie, 1988). Such systems not only allow extensive dialogue among all participants but are asynchronous as well. Turoff (1989) has recently emphasized the importance of asynchronous messaging to collaborative learning and the accommodation of different styles of thought.
Although their potential is obvious, third generation designs are little used either in the public or private sector. Most institutions are organized to deliver print-based material, augmented to varying degrees by other media such as audiotapes and single or multiple telephone contacts. Kaufman (1989) summarizes the characteristics of most such first generation systems:
No choice is provided to learners, who follow a fixed course or program. All power is centralized within the institution. Little support is provided other than written feedback on assignments, and evaluation is by final exam. There is little two-way communication (dialogue) other than written feedback on assignments through the postal service. Limited use of the telephone is possible. Little or no emphasis is placed on thinking skills, as the orientation is on covering a set amount of material. (p. 67)
Kaufman's description outlines the major features of traditional correspondence program design and delivery. These, and selected dimensions of student counselling and tutorial support (McGinnis-Rankin & Brindley, 1986; Thompson, 1989), will be used to assess the contribution presently made by private sector correspondence schools to improved educational opportunity. Before doing so, however, it would be useful to outline the data sources for the study.
The data on which the larger part of this report is based were obtained from a telephone survey conducted by Sweet and Slade (1988) and from visitations to two of the largest correspondence schools. Additional information was gathered from industry and government sources. The Statistics Canada (1988) data collected in 1986 provided a national picture of proprietary school activity. The information obtained included enrolment figures, type and number of courses offered, prerequisites (if any), and basic student demographic information. A re-analysis of the data was done to separate the merged description of private training institutions and correspondence schools. As this re-analysis still aggregated data across institutions and Provinces, Sweet and Slade (1988) surveyed a sample of the largest and most active correspondence schools suggested by Hope (1986) as being representative of the range of courses offered and clientele served in the distance delivery format. Data from four of the schools selected for the survey are employed in this paper.
To further complement our survey data, we arranged for visitations to two correspondence schools: ICS-Canadian in Montreal and Granton Institute of Technology in Toronto. Each is quite different in size and organizational structure. Our one-day sessions at ICS and Granton involved a tour of the facilities and interviews with senior officers. We had an opportunity to observe the procedures for assembling and distributing course materials as well as the operation of various student support services, including registration, advising, and tutoring. Our brief visits provided a picture of the daily operation of each school and a sense of the rather unique institutional priorities and constraints that define the operation of an educational business. The impressions gained in this observation process, although obviously subjective, helped inform our description and analysis of the survey data.
Finally, we consulted with provincial government departments responsible for monitoring the operation of proprietary schools. This yielded less information than might be expected: most ministries lack the resources to collect much more than the obligatory registration forms and annual reports. Yet these proved useful in rounding out the information available from the survey data. In the case of records provided by the Manitoba government we were able to obtain at least an outline of student characteristics and an account of their proprietary schooling experience, including correspondence study.
Accessibility has been recognized as a central element in discussions of Canadian post secondary policy but always with reference to the university or college systems (Anisef, 1985); and usually in terms of its impact on instructional quality and the allocation of government funds (Skolnik, 1984). More recently, a broader view of educational opportunity has emerged in the educational policy literature and in documents of government policy planners (e.g., Fisher, 1988; Fortin, 1987). For the purposes of this analysis of the private education sector, access is partitioned into three distinct components: entry, completion, and transition.
Access as entry deals with such concerns as average participation rates or, more recently, with improving entry opportunities of particular groups in society who previously were inadequately served by the education system (Anisef, 1985). Access as completion refers not only to graduation rates but also to the conditions needed to promote student persistence and achievement. Increasingly it is recognized that these include extensive support services, especially for non-traditional students. Paul (1986), Morrison (1988), and others have described expanded entry through distance education for mature students, women, natives, and various minority groups as a hollow promise in the absence of adequate financial, counselling, and academic support. Canadian business and industry is undergoing rapid and pervasive restructuring as a consequence of technological change - with dramatic, if not always clearly understood, implications for employees. Access as transition from an educational or training institution (or a course of study from same) to the modern workplace involves a complex of relationships among technology, job requirements, and vocational training (Wilms, 1988). One of the prerequisites, however, for improved job entry and career mobility of students is adaptability: in the context of a rapidly changing work environment, what type of training best prepares the student for a constantly changing job market? Vocational courses and programs available through colleges attempt to provide a broader and perhaps more conceptual background than do the proprietary schools. The latter pride themselves on the relevance of their offerings, which means a concentration on specific skills aimed for the most part at job entry. Assessing the relative utility of a general education or specific-skills training in this regard is a difficult issue to resolve (Dennison, 1988; Myles, 1988); but curricular alternatives exist between public and proprietary programs, and these appear to be valued differently by employers (CFIB, 1989).
Although access is here treated in terms of its components, in reality they represent a continuum extending from the student's initial enquiries about enrolment to final graduation. This progression is considered in the following sections.
Cross (1981) defines three barriers to post secondary access of entry: situational, administrative, and dispositional. Situational barriers stem from the individual's immediate and personal situation and could be a lack of study time owing to family or work responsibilities or perhaps geographic isolation. Administrative barriers are those policies and practices of institutions that work to impede student entry, such as the availability of relevant courses, their cost, or academic prerequisites to course enrolment. Dispositional barriers refer to the individual's motivational structure and include self-esteem, level of aspiration, and attitude to learning.
Situational and dispositional barriers can be addressed through discussion of student characteristics. Unfortunately, most proprietary institutions do not keep extensive student records. We nevertheless can construct a preliminary profile of students from the available data. outlines this information for the four correspondence schools with the largest enrolments and the widest range of courses (Hope, 1986).
The data indicates that the majority of enrolments are non-traditional, adult learners: most are older than the typical college student and hold job responsibilities. Many have enrolled in courses related in some way to their jobs, presumably in hopes of advancement. Variation in personal learning agendas is suggested both by differences in institutional enrolment patterns and the proportion of female students at the different schools. Granton and ICS offer a wide range of courses and consequently attract a mixed enrolment, roughly representative of the general population of adult learn-ers. McGraw-Hill deals in electronics courses of apparently little interest to female learners. Hume is a special case: its remarkable enrolment results not from a program of unusually broad appeal but rather from a very specialized course package designed to improve the student's skills in personal finance and investment. Its students are almost exclusively male, professional or reasonably affluent, and with the specific learning goal of improved money management.
Although most students appear to favour courses that are employmentrelated, it does not necessarily follow that a course or program name reflects the student's vocational intent. Oepkes (1988) found in a Manitoba survey that three quarters of 925 students in courses offered by private vocational schools in that province (including some correspondence students) enrolled for employment-related reasons while the remainder enrolled out of "personal interest." Certainly, enrolment decisions are a complex of motives. There was, for example, considerable overlap in the stated purposes of respondents to the Manitoba survey, indicating that courses may have both personal and instrumental value to an individual.
Removing institutional barriers to access is the most obvious first step in implementing a policy of openness; and both public and private sector education systems are moving in this direction to accommodate the adult learner. Successfully recruiting mature students, however, involves presenting a flexible institutional face. Administrative conveniences such as rolling enrolments and the removal of prerequisites are indicators of institutional openness. These policies have in recent years been implemented by public distance education institutions such as the B.C. Open Learning Agency, Alberta's Athabasca University, and the Télé-université in Quebec. The correspondence schools operate similarly. Where prerequisites are indicated (e.g., Statistics Canada, 1988), they function essentially as guides to the level of skill required for success in a course. In comparing institutional restrictions on accessibility imposed by public and private schools, it is today more useful to examine the range of course or program choices available to students. As previously indicated by Hope (1986), correspondence schools offer a varied assortment of courses. Many are alternatives to those supported by the colleges; others complement the public institutions' programs and allow students to develop more individualized courses of study. outlines enrolments in courses categorized according to the Statistics Canada Major Field of Study Code Classification Structure. It is apparent from the enrolment figures across various program areas that proprietary correspondence schools not only serve a significant number of students but offer as well an extensive array of courses.
The breadth of each category in the Classification Structure imposes obvious limitations on interpretation; however, it is possible to discern some patterns. Consistent with the Sweet and Slade survey (1988) reported in Table 1, enrolment distributions found in the Statistics Canada survey indicate rather traditional gender divisions, at least with respect to the "Commerce, Management, and Business Administration" category that contains the office-secretary programs. That there are no such divisions in the Engineering and Applied Technologies area probably results from the "hobbyist" courses included in that classification and the difficulties in developing sophisticated technological programming for distance delivery.
Cost is another institutional barrier. It is interesting that students will choose a correspondence course even though it is available through local community or college programs, including off-campus programs. Usually these courses are far less costly than the proprietary school offerings; and when completed, recognition by employers is, in most cases, assured. For those individuals to whom a certificate or diploma is important and where cost is a consideration it is difficult to see why the proprietary option would be chosen. However, when on-campus college courses are defined in terms of credit-hours and operate with a fixed program sequence over a set period of time, they entail greater opportunity costs for students. The convenience of home study, then, becomes very attractive. But public institutions are changing: an increasing number and variety of courses are being delivered by continuing and distance education divisions of universities and colleges (ACCC, 1988). One alternative explanation advanced to explain proprietary school enrolments is that these schools enrol the disenchanted - those for whom public schooling was a painful experience (Wilms, 1987). This argument likely has greater relevance to private vocational training schools. Nevertheless, attitudes undoubtedly play some role in correspondence students' choice of public and private offerings.
Eliminating barriers to entry moves institutions closer to a situation of real equity but may not be a completely adequate response. Improved educational opportunity for any but the most capable students requires some measure of support if distance learners are to persist and achieve. While the form and degree of student support required for success in learning at a distance is difficult to determine (Thompson, 1989), sufficient support for distance education students assumes the presence of both advising and tutoring resources. Defining access in terms that include both program completion and success in applying the results of learning to the job market is useful to the extent concepts of completion and transition parallel the program advising and course tutoring functions of established student support services. Each has its own concerns.
In the advising area two issues have been identified: providing adequate support for students who lack the necessary independent learning skills (Feasley, 1983); and counselling women whose position in the educational system often reinforces their limited opportunities in the labour force (Bray, 1988; Coulter, 1989).
In the tutoring area, the salient issue for vocational education at a distance is the same as that facing community colleges and the private vocational training schools: how to prepare students for positions in an economy driven by technological innovation (see for example, Council of Regents, 1990). Viewed as a curricular or "materials" question, the task is one of designing a distance education program that promotes problem solving and critical thinking skills required for adaptive behaviour in a rapidly changing workplace.
Both advising and tutoring facilities at the private correspondence schools contacted in our survey are described below. The profile is drawn along dimensions suggested in the general literature on student support services for distance education institutions. The composition of these services differs across programs and institutions; however, examples of comprehensive support systems are to be found in single- purpose institutions such as Athabasca University and the Open Learning Agency (Sweet, 1986b).
There is ample evidence that significant numbers of mature students lack the attributes needed for successful independent study and become attrition statistics as a consequence (Sweet, 1986a). Among correspondence students the average completion rate is 70% (Statistics Canada, 1988). Of the schools surveyed by Sweet and Slade (1988), completion rates are somewhat higher although they vary among schools. A breakdown of rates for courses within these institutions is not available, but it seems likely that considerable variation exists between courses as Statistics Canada (1988) reports completion rates for courses ranging from 20 to 71% across the industry. These figures are not dissimilar to those reported by distance education universities and colleges in this country (Bates, 1989) and are indicative of the need for more effective rather than more extensive student support services.
summarizes the advising situation for those private sector correspondence schools surveyed by Sweet and Slade (1988). While the various components of a comprehensive advising service are present, their implementation falls considerably short of the interaction between institution and student that Tinto (1976) suggests is essential to developing student commitment and persistence. The lack of interaction also precludes the kind of cooperative exchanges among students that Bray (1988) and others are trying to establish for women students at public distance education institutions.
Although a comprehensive counselling and resource system is implied in Table 3, the services actually available to correspondence students are minimal. There are no functional libraries or other resource materials available to students, beyond those contained in the course packages. The range of counselling activity is limited in that academic and personal program planning is available only to the extent each is described in advertising brochures or by untrained registration employees. The burden of study skills development typically is borne by a handout or brief student manual. Financial and accreditation advice also is not formalized. Employment counselling takes the form of job leads, although even this is not really possible in those provinces where it is illegal to claim this as a service.
Interestingly, ICS-Canadian does have a computerized "reminder" system that alerts students who are late in mailing their completed assignments. This innovation undoubtedly helps students pace their studies; but the service is not really consistent with what appears to be the prevailing view among proprietary schools that students are mature, adult learners requiring a minimum of guidance. It is possible of course to argue that students choose correspondence as a means of learning precisely because they prefer independent study; but there is little support for this position and every reason to believe that most adults studying at a distance require support services of some kind (Thompson, 1989).
One of the most interesting of recently published policy documents is the Canadian Federation of Independent Business study of employer preferences in hiring graduates of post secondary institutions (CFIB, 1989). Employers were asked to rate their degree of satisfaction with the "preparation for employment" of graduates from high school, college, university, and private training institutions. Private training institutions were decidedly superior in the view of small business employers. There are obvious methodological qualifications to this study but the point is made: proprietary schools (including correspondence schools) emphasize task-specific skill training and this is welcomed by the employer. The appeal of the proprietary schools is to job relevance. This seems most directly to meet the needs of students for employment or career advancement. But it may not, in fact, equip them for the changing workplace, which increasingly demands flexible thinking and adaptive behaviour (Employment & Immigration, 1989). To the extent skills training as opposed to a broader "polytechnical" education promotes advancement, it does so only with a narrow range of job categories, most of which are terminally menial (Livingston, 1988).
The role of the tutor in distance education is not easily defined. In one sense, the tutor can only complement home-study materials: offering encouragement and responding to problems identified by the student. However, telephone exchanges do allow direct personal interactions that facilitate the learning of complex material and problem-solving strategies. outlines some of the conditions underlying the telephone tutoring system offered by the schools surveyed by Sweet and Slade (1988).
There are two specific limitations to the telephone tutoring service indicated in Table 4. The first concerns the academic qualifications of the tutors: most lack any particular education or training in the subjects delivered, although they may have considerable practical vocational experience. In only one institution did the tutor have corresponding classroom teaching experience in the subject. A second constraint on effective support is the availability of the tutor. The ratio of students-to-tutor range from 132 to 1 at McGraw-Hill to an improbable 2000 to 1 at Hume. The relation-ship between number of courses and tutors also is extremely variable: at Hume it is a manageable 1.7 to 1 while at Granton it is 35 to 1. These ratios illustrate the impossibility of meaningful interaction. It would appear that among the schools surveyed little attempt has been made to establish a strong tutoring arrangement with students. This likely reflects the lack of "demand" - a relatively low level of student-initiated calls and the fact that many of the courses are neither especially demanding nor rigorously assessed. The level of support is less than that found in publicly funded distance education institutions offering vocational and technical courses such as the B.C. Open College; however, on at least one indicator of program effectiveness - attrition rates, the proprietary schools fare no worse than their public counterparts. Where proprietary schools wish to offer more advanced, technological programs and equip students to be adaptable in an automated workplace, more extensive interaction likely will be needed.
Technical education, as opposed to skill-specific training, probably requires a more varied and sophisticated communication system than direct telephone conversations between tutor and student. Bates (1989) argues for the inclusion of electronic media in the design of distance education programming. In support of this position, he points to the the high attrition rates among primarily print-based programs offered at Canadian institutions and then compares these to the much lower rates at the British Open University, where extensive use is made of technology in conjunction with print materials. Conceding the complexities involved and necessary cautions required of Bates' comparison, the apparent resilience, in both public and private sectors, of print-based home study is somewhat surprising (Dunning, 1987). There are not only compelling motivational but pedagogical reasons to alter the level of program design.
The basis for a shift in the design of correspondence school programs is suggested in Kaufman's (1989) description of "third generation" distance education designs. These emphasize development of thinking skills: problem solving, decision making, and critical analysis. The interaction between teacher and student required to foster cognitive processes of this nature is made possible through some form of computer-mediated communication. It is a reliance on the computer that most sharply differentiates third generation designs from earlier forms. While the impact of this technology has not been fully documented, there is emerging evidence that computer conferencing systems do foster the cognitive skills and attitudes needed for continuing learning and adaptive behaviour (Mason & Kaye, 1989). Lauzon and Monroe (1989) and Bates (1987) have extended the application of the computer-based instruction by proposing that computer-mediated communication systems be coupled with Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) software for home study. The application of simulation to the CAL design is particularly relevant to moving from simpler technical training packages to more sophisticated technological applications.
This paper has outlined some of the operating principles and practices of proprietary correspondence schools in terms of their contribution to post secondary access. Accessibility was defined to include access of entry, completion, and transition. Within this framework, three questions were addressed:
The experience of literacy, adult basic education, and general upgrading programs indicates many individuals in the labour force do not possess independent learning skills. Expanding educational opportunity, then, necessitates developing an adequate support system for distance learners, including provision of both counselling and tutoring services. Improved access of completion will require greater use of electronic communications technology to increase levels of interaction amongst students and instructors. Computer-mediated communications systems in particular possess the potential to foster cognitive skills and adaptive behaviours required of the modern workplace. Positive attitudes toward learning and the possession of generic skills are important elements in the definition of accessibility as transition and underlie the notion that knowledge acquired through training should enhance not only job entry but job mobility.
Although the description of correspondence schools in this paper was necessarily brief and constrained by limitations in the data, there are a few concluding observations that may be made with regard to government policy, foreign ownership, and the influence of technology on both.
At the present time there are calls for a national education strategy to more effectively train Canadian workers to compete in the global economy (Dennison, 1988). Establishing such a strategy means first overcoming the regional division of powers between the federal and provincial governments. Whatever the outcome of those essentially political and economic debates, relationships between public and private institutions will be influenced significantly by technology. If distance education trends in Great Britain and Europe are relevant to the Canadian context (Mason & Kaye, 1989), communications technology will have the effect of blurring distinctions between resident and distance learning. It also will bring the public and private sectors to the same market place: adult learners who, as consumers, will demand some rationalization of the funding and accreditation procedures as presently conducted by universities, college, and the private sector. There is some evidence that federal and provincial governments recognize the need for greater coordination of the training programs offered by public and private educational sectors, where the latter includes in-house training by business and industry as well as the proprietary schools (Employment & Immigration, 1989; Twenty-Ninth Annual Premiers' Conference, 1988).
Nationality of correspondence school ownership may have important implications for future developments in the private education sector. While the smaller companies (and Hume) are Canadian- owned, ICS-Canadian is a subsidiary of ICS-Scranton in the U.S., itself owned and controlled by National Education Corporation, perhaps the largest proprietary training school in the world. These resources make it possible and perhaps even likely that a company like ICS will develop a range of courses for Canadian students. These would not be limited to the leisure learner, the hobbyist, or even the person seeking further technological training but would extend to the area of continuing professional education, including graduate-level work (Boud & Livingston, 1988). An indication of program direction and the trans- national scope of correspondence schools is apparent in the association between ICS-Canadian and Northland Open University. The latter offers "executive" degrees in business and engineering by correspondence. These programs currently operate on a relatively small scale, but their potential is considerable when supported by the communications technology the ICS group could provide were they to draw on the financial resources and expertise of their U.S. parent company.
Current policies of government encourage development of the private education sector. Whether, as a consequence, expansion will be seen in correspondence school operation is difficult to predict. At the present time, a reliance on first generation delivery systems would appear inadequate to the increasingly complex training requirements of the labour force. Proprietary schools have endured because correspondence instruction has met the learning needs of many adult, non-traditional learners and because public, post secondary schools have neglected these groups. This is no longer the case: technical institutes, community colleges, and universities are increasingly active in pursuing the promise of communications technology in the distance education field. If the proprietary system's contribution to post secondary access is to develop, it will find it necessary to move toward third generation concepts in the design and delivery of its programs.
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Robert Sweet teaches Educational Psychology at Lakehead University. His research interests include issues of access, technology, and skill acquisition in post secondary education. He currently is studying the relationship between workplace skill requirements and the program development policies of Canadian community colleges and private-sector training institutions.