Action and Monitoring Pathways

Seeking areas of common interest and interdependent relationships

“The road is created by coming and going.”

Areas of common interest focus around joint work on targeted programs, courses and student services. The dialogue among PAL institutional partners made it possible to determine that their areas of common interests include:

1. Standardization of the definitions of concepts and methods in order to ensure a common and shared understanding of technology-assisted and online learning;
2. Exploration of technology adoption strategies by faculty, recognizing the organic nature of the process of change within all the institutions;
3. Identification of projects for the shared development of programs and courses, in particular:
   1. Identification of entire programs to develop through course pooling;
   2. Validation of the inventory of current online courses and identification of courses that can be used as a basis for cooperation (including the Consortium des universités de la francophonie ontarienne inventory);
   3. Identification of the potential for online cooperation based on agreements for articulating, aligning and recognizing already established courses;
   4. Identification of low enrolment and general education courses that could be targeted for short-term cooperation;
   5. Identification of low enrolment and general education courses that could be targeted for short-term cooperation;
   6. Using technology to meet “special needs” outlined in the Education Act;
4. High school, college and university alignment through sharing of online tools, modules and adapted courses, including preparation of an inventory of existing course alignments and recognition agreements;
5. Exploration of the international offering of French-language hybrid or completely online courses;
6. Establishment of a consortium for acquiring technology and setting up a repository of open educational resources and models of effective practice;
7. Preparation of a development strategy for French-language e-books.

Foundational components

The following components which form the foundation of a collaborative and integrated approach are also areas of common interest:

1. Primacy of pedagogy and access to postsecondary education affirmed in all technology projects;
2. The integration of technology-assisted and online learning core components of institutional strategic planning;
3. Development of a minimum partnership participation capacity for smaller institutions;
4. Sustained coordination aimed at building an interdependent relationship between institutions and technology-assisted and online learning stakeholders over a period of several years;
5. An incentive funding model that recognizes the dynamics of innovation and the creation of start-ups within institutions, as well as sustained and coordinated participation in ongoing provincial initiatives;
6. Sustained exploration of the technology-assisted and online learning business model, with particular focus on investments in infrastructure and operations and the consequences of student mobility on funding and provincial funding mechanisms, etc.

Support for cooperation and creation of a web environment

Contact North | Contact Nord offers to set up a web environment to facilitate inter-institutional information sharing and coordinate the next identified stages of work. Communication and information sharing are essential.

In the immediate future, the following steps will be required:

1. An update of the list of programs and courses offered online by all 12 partners;
2. A partner exchange to identify specific joint projects and project clusters;
3. A coordinated engagement in provincial initiatives, at least in terms of information and strategic choices made and at best in terms of joint initiatives.

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