Approximately 70 institutional researchers from across the country participated in a CIRPA-sponsored webinar about online learning at the end of last month. The webinar highlighted the results of the second annual national online education survey conducted earlier in 2018. Éric Martel, in a one-hour session in French on November 28, and Dr. Tony Bates, in a similar-length webinar in English the next day, showed webinar participants how much the online landscape is changing across Canada.
“The majority of Canadian publicly-funded post-secondary institutions very strongly endorse and believe online learning is a critical part of their offerings,” noted Bates during his presentation. In fact, 74% of institutions that participated in the national survey this summer expect more online course registrations next year. Bates and Martel both highlighted that 88% of universities, 80% of colleges outside of Québec and 59% of CEGEPs currently offer some form of distance education, with most using LMS or on-demand, streamed video to deliver their online offerings. They added that one in five students in Canada is currently taking at least one online course.
Both Bates and Martel expressed their appreciation in being able to discuss the survey results with a national audience and the challenges researchers face in financing and administering it. CIRPA is grateful that these two distinguished gentlemen took the time out of their busy schedules to speak with our members. The next national survey will be conducted in the spring of 2019.
For those who missed the webinars, the recordings (and CIRPA’s previous four webinars) will be available soon on the Member365 site in the file library of the “CIRPA Webinars” section. Given the popularity of the webinar series, CIRPA plans to offer at least three presentations a year. The next webinar is planned for March 2019.
For more information about webinars or to suggest a future topic and/or presenter, please contact CIRPA Secretary David Paul at david.paul@portagecollege.ca.