1. 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

2. Research History and Partners  The VideoCom research project ongoing since 2006: http://videocom.firstnation.ca http://videocom.firstnation.ca  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)

3. 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

4. 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!

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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).

11. 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

12. 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).

13. 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

14. 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

15. Contacts for Follow-up  More info and publications: http://videocom.firstnation.ca http://firstmile.ca  Susan O’Donnell: susanodo@unb.casusanodo@unb.ca  Kevin Burton: admin@firstnationhelp.comadmin@firstnationhelp.com Thank you! Comments, questions?