Abstract
Canada has a long history of online and distance education, but until 2017 there had been no comprehensive national data on online enrolments in both the university and college sectors. However, in 2017 a team of independent Canadian researchers, working in collaboration with the Babson Survey Research Group and WCET in the USA, raised the funding and conducted a national survey of online learning in all public post-secondary institutions in Canada. The results from the survey are presented and discussed, as well as plans for further studies in the future.
Highlights
IntroductionAs online learning becomes more and more prevalent in post-secondary education, it becomes important to be able to track its development
CEGEPs have seen a slight decline (3%) in online learning since 2011, where activity seems to be slowly transitioning from a central service (Cégep à distance) to individual CEGEPs
By triangulating the results of this national survey with other surveys, it was possible to provide an estimate of the proportion of enrolments that are fully online
Summary
As online learning becomes more and more prevalent in post-secondary education, it becomes important to be able to track its development. The second and most expensive stage of the project was the piloting and administration of the questionnaire This involved sending invitations to participate to each of 203 institutions, and follow-up contacts to ensure a high response rate. This stage was made possible by a grant of $80,000 from eCampus Ontario’s Research and Development fund to Ryerson University, where Tony Bates was a distinguished visiting professor. Without a direct provincial or national sponsor for the project, the participation of institutions was absolutely dependent on their willingness to participate To obtain this commitment, the team approached a number of organizations to which the post-secondary institutions belonged. In one form or another, played an important supportive role in ensuring that the survey was well received by the institutions
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