Learning Online in The District School Board of Niagara District School Board of Niagara © 2004 by David Miller An Introduction to

District School Board of Niagara 2004  Student population40,000  Teaching Staff2,500  eLearning Students (credit)  Non-Teaching Staff1,300  Number of K-6 / K-8 Schools99  Number of 9-12 Schools22  Geography: Located in the Niagara Peninsula. ~60 km X 40 km, mix of urban and rural schools  Cable TV based WAN – migrating to Fibre

Pre eLearning  Some schools developing course segments on-line, often on servers outside of the DSBN  No full credit courses offered on-line  No standard on-line course format or content management / delivery  No log of electronic communications between students and teachers  All Staff Development presented in the traditional manner, i.e., face-to-face, after school or during the day with supply teachers provided

ENABLERS  Identified Need  Support of Senior Administration  Wide Area Network Reasonable Bandwidth Stable  LMS systems now readily available and affordable  Financial Resources In Place Product Purchase eLearning Teacher / Facilitator Course Development Staff Development

eLearning Baby Steps  Slow, cautious, conservative  Created eLearning Development Team  Acquired LMS – Desire2Learn  Developed Teaching and Learning on-line course to prepare teachers for eLearning  Developed initial course offerings Credit Augmentation Staff Development

BARRIERS TO IMPLEMENTATION Changing Practices (by level of difficulty) Classroom Teachers / Federations Guidance Teachers Senior Administration Need for an In-School Mentor for each eLearning student Technological Issues Suitable Access to Technology D2L shortcomings (white board, communications) Training Teachers to Develop Courseware On-line