Mirroring the Networked Society: Government Policy, Higher Education, and Telelearning Technology in Canada

Abstract

The terrain of higher education in Canada is changing in ways that are facilitated and encouraged by government policies directed at telelearning technologies. This study, a review of federal and provincial government policies relating to the use of telelearning technologies in postsecondary education, reveals several significant trends. First, telelearning policy for the postsecondary sector straddles the boundary between education and economic development policy, a shift that changes conventional educational funding criteria. Second, telelearning technologies are being implemented in ways that support other government policy goals such as greater integration and efficiency in provincial postsecondary systems and increased support for labour market needs. While the implications of these changes are not yet entirely clear, we can anticipate the need for policy processes that include greater recognition of the role of negotiation—policies and policy processes which address explicitly the facts of dissolving boundaries, new connections, and emerging organizational forms. The higher educational sector seems inadequately prepared for these challenges.