"Jacking-in" to Distributed Learning in BC

Without much media fanfare, the BC Ministry of Education announced that, as of September 2006, any grade 10, 11, & 12 student in BC will be able to take Ministry funded distributed/online courses from any BC online provider. They also announced summer learning at no charge.

Motivation for increasing access to distributed learning (sometimes mistakenly referred to as online) appears to be to provide increased choices and access to:
1) Home schoolers
2) Geographically remote or otherwise geographically mobile learners
3) Students in districts with decreased high school enrolment trends
4) Alternative learners (adult, accelerated/course over-load, year-round, self-paced)
5) Conventional classroom learners with limited course selections.

From the district’s perspective this translates into a potential reduction in classroom facilities needed for conventional students and additional dollars from the students who take more than eight courses a year.

From parents' perspectives this also provides choices for conventional school students who encounter conflicts with course scheduling or with teachers.

What is distributed learning? It is the alternative learning delivery modes to classroom learning that are independent of time and place.

Permission is not required from a counselor or principal to take a distributed learning course; however, common sense dictates that students would notify their school when they are dropping a conventional school course to take its equivalent through distributed learning.

Any student can take any course that is offered by any of the BC public distributed learning providers at no charge. Our own school district 68 learn at home program is one such provider. This program is now housed at Nanaimo district secondary school. Some providers (including school district 68 learn at home program) will also offer courses from the Course Information for Graduation grade 10, 11, and 12 course handbook upon request and in consultation with district distributed learning staff.

While distributed learning is on the rise and a valuable life-long learning experience, is this for you? In addition to Ministry information, there are additional internet resources and self test questionnaires that will help you explore this question.

Further information to consider when making your decision:

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Difference between Home schooling and Distributed learning
• Distributed Learning Policy
• Standards for K-12 Distributed Learning in BC
• BCTF 2003 Research Report on Distributed Learning in BC 2002-2003
• BC Ed Online

Research on course completion rates:

• Distance Education: Does Access Override Success? - P. Beatty-Guenter (69.5% compared to 84.6%)
• Course Completion Rates among Distance Learners - Robert D. Nash