Lessons Learned: Effectiveness of Synchronous Full-Distance Delivery for Aboriginal Teacher Candidates

• In Event: Canadian Association for the Study of Indigenous Education (CASIE): Responding to the Challenge of Teaching, Learning, and Researching From Indigenous Standpoints

Abstract

Educational programming delivered via the internet has long been held to be the answer to increasing access to higher education by Aboriginal peoples in remote communities in Canada (Davis, 2000; Facey, 2001; Fiddler, 1992; Greenall & Loizides, 2001; Taylor, 2002; Voyageur, 2001). And yet there is little research that presents a holistic view of what occurs across those involved in creating, supporting, teaching and learning within such a technologically mediated environment. This study considers the effectiveness of synchronous full-distance delivery of courses associated to a Bachelor of Education program developed to accredit primary/junior First Nation teachers in Ontario, Canada from the perspectives of teacher candidates and distance education administrators.
We employed a multiphase convergent parallel design to study the effectiveness of the delivery of distance courses to First Nations teacher candidates via a course management system of synchronous full-distance delivery (CMS-SFTD). In this study we viewed effectiveness as the ability for teacher candidates and their instructors to consistently connect through the internet and participate in an educational experience that reflected the learning needs of those Aboriginal teacher candidates.

The multiphase design builds on the convergent mixed method described by Creswell (2012). Multiphase design involves the study of a series of phases that examine different sets of research questions that all advance one research objective (Creswell, 2012). Building on this, convergent design collects both quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously, analyses each dataset separately, and then interprets whether the results support or contradict each other. This approach assumes that investigating multiple studies leads to better understanding of the research objective, as well as, combining the advantages of qualitative methods (context) with quantitative methods (generalizability) (Creswell, 2012).
We used a purposive sampling technique to recruit the distance education administrators and First Nation teacher candidates involved in a pilot project in 2009. Participants, both administrators and teacher candidates, were recruited via: (a) emailing an electronic script and an invitation letter (b) administration personnel distribution of recruitment materials or (c) face-to- face distribution of recruitment materials by the researcher during a social gathering. This sampling method facilitated in gathering as many participants as possible from our population.
The major findings pertaining to the CMS-SFTD pilot project are presented through integrated analyses showing both the supportive and contradictory elements of the findings.These integrative analyses aimed to explore the intricacies in the findings obtained from separate analyses, as well as meaningful contradictions in the data set.

Authors

• Megan Kathleen Gordon, Brock University

• John H. Hodson, Lakehead University

• Julian D. Kitchen, Brock University