by Rod Chapman, The University of Calgary
(originally published in "Innovations In Adult Learning for AIbertans" Spring 1996, a newsletter published by Alberta Advanced Education and Career Development)
They may have traded ploughs for Pentiums, but today's electronic adventurers are every bit as resourceful as our pioneer grandparents. Led by Alberta Government Telephones (AGT), an adventuresome 17-member consortium of companies, universities and organizations, are pooling their expertise and carving out new territory in the emerging field of distributed learning (formerly known as distance education). Benefiting from this high tech 'barn raising' cooperative are Alberta learners. They will soon be able to take advantage of video, audio, print and visual learning aids in a fully interactive learning experience using application of technology called the Adaptive Multimedia Education Enabler, or AMEE as it is known.
"Right now we're exploring all the things that go into a good learning experience", says AGT's project coordinator, Neil Smith. "We intend to develop this into a technology that has commercial potential".
Slated for introduction in early 1997, the $2 million AMEE project is designed to provide universal access to learning opportunities for Albertans in both urban and rural areas. Funded in part by consortium members and in part by CANARIE, the Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry and Education, AMEE allows learners to receive high quality course content on their home computers or through a number of community access centres now being created throughout the province.
" The beauty of the AMEE project is that it can raise the quality of the learning experience while also making it more accessible", says Tom Keenan, Dean of the Faculty of Continuing Education at the University of Calgary. "Programs that were only available at universities or at specialized facilities like The Banff Centre will be widely available in convenient locations to Albertans - and they'll be enhanced with the latest digital learning tools. We're pioneering new technology and new applications at the same time".
AMEE works by providing a simple interface between learners and educators using computers at both ends of the transaction, regardless of the type of computer used by the learner. Individuals will be able to browse the World Wide Web for courses, apply for a student ID, register for a course, select the preferred mode of delivery for course materials, download and upload course modules and assignments, participate in on-line discussions and send and receive email.
Course providers will be able to specify the course structure and timing, revise courses, distribute updates, set-up class interactions as well as distribute, collect and grade assignments and review and modify class registration and billing.
Students without access to computers need not despair. Computer-equipped community access centres, complete with videoconferencing facilities, are being established in selected towns around Alberta to serve as learning laboratories.
