Post-Secondary Distance Education: Experiences of Elsipogtog First Nation Community Members Susan O’Donnell Kevin Burton (Jesse Simon, Emily Lockhart) ANTEC (Atlantic Native Teachers Education Conference) May17, 2012 Cape Breton, NS

Research History and Partners  The VideoCom research project ongoing since 2006:  Since 2010, collaborative research on broadband networks and ICT in rural and remote First Nations  Atlantic Canada's First Nation Help Desk (Kevin Burton, Coordinator)  Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO) in Ontario (Brian Beaton, KO/K-Net Coordinator; Brian Walmark, KORI Research Director)  First Nations Education Council (FNEC) in Quebec (Tim Whiteduck, Director of Technology)  University of New Brunswick (Susan O’Donnell, Researcher and Adjunct Professor, Sociology)

Collaborating Communities and Studies  Fort Severn First Nation, Ontario  Community cell phone service; community perspectives on telemental health; history of information sharing and technology development; the First Mile approach to service delivery  Mishkeegogamang First Nation, Ontario  How community members are using ICT and broadband applications; community perspectives on telemental health  Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, Quebec  Networks and ICT for education services; household ICT use; broadband- enabled services  Elsipogtog First Nation, New Brunswick  Post-secondary distance education; technology and creativity

Acknowledgements  Thanks to the Elsipogtog community leadership and community members for participating in this research  Thanks to other members of the research team and community liaison  All the partner organizations contribute in-kind resources to this project  Our work has been supported since 2006 by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council – thank-you SSHRC!

Study Introduction  Post-secondary distance education an option in many Atlantic First Nations  Course delivery through videoconferencing or web for individuals and for groups in community classrooms  Our paper explores some of these opportunities and challenges in the Elsipogtog community

Research on First Nations Students and Post-Sec Distance Education  A lot of interest but little previous research  Studying in the same community where you live has many advantages over leaving to study elsewhere  Many political, organizational, social, cultural, technical challenges for distance education…  Current study focused on the experiences of Elsipogtog community members

Study Methodology  The paper highlights the significant capacity and interest in Elsipogtog for post-secondary education  In collaboration with the community, interviews with community members  Shared their experiences with distance education  ANTEC paper exploratory, focused on different modes of distance education delivery

Recent Use of Post-sec Distance Education  Students taking distance ed from Fredericton – St. Thomas and University of New Brunswick  Courses from Halifax – Dalhousie and Mount Saint Vincent University  Social work, education and nursing the most popular  Also GED high school by distance

Web-based Post-sec Course Delivery  Currently the primary method of course delivery  Students with computer at home (sometimes in computer lab together)  WebEx - live video, visual and audio possible  Good for students comfortable with computers who prefer studying in a home environment

Different Experiences with Web-based Course Delivery  “So at home you can just...it’s you and your computer and there’s no distractions around you” (Community Member ).  “I was so alone. Oh my, I was so alone. Sitting by the computer and by the phone and, you know. No, I was literally sick to my stomach, that’s how much I...I’m not a computer learner at all” (Community Member).

Post-sec Delivered by Videoconference  Real-time audio-visual in a classroom setting  Preferred by students who ID’d as visual learners, needing more interaction with classmates and prof  Frustration with connectivity and technical challenges that could be easily solved

Different Experiences with Courses Delivered by Videoconference  To me we were closer in videoconferencing so more of a community than [WebEx] because... Like we're all doing the same thing… we were closer. Like WebEx, to me, there's space there blocking. It's not as personal I don't think” (Community member).  “Thank God for one my classmates for math because that was one of my worst experiences- taking a math class through videoconferencing as I have a really hard time with math and the professor was really rude, for one” (Community member).

Summary of Findings  People have different learning styles and preferences  Web-based systems work well for those at home with family responsibilities  Videoconference works for those preferring group learning  Videoconference may be more suitable for those with limited computer skills

Next Steps…  Work with community to interpret findings, more papers  Consider how distance learning fits within a holistic e- community strategy  Invite anyone at ANTEC interested in this research to contact us for follow-up

Contacts for Follow-up  More info and publications:  Susan O’Donnell:  Kevin Burton: Thank you! Comments, questions?