December, 2009
Executive Summary
There is an increasing need for the University to engage students with the use of technology and various electronic media. Students are also, increasingly, expecting to have access to extended learning opportunities, many of which are mediated by technology. Twenty-first century students expect to use various electronic media in their learning experience in the same ways that they use electronic media in their day-to-day lives. They will also be expected to use and apply various electronic media in their future careers. While imagining what the University of Saskatchewan could look like in 10 or
20 years, the University needs to understand how well it does or does not meet the needs of learners who expect flexible access to educational opportunities. The use of electronic media and technology in the teaching experience also needs to be examined including how such methods and tools enhance the experience and effectiveness of the teacher.
An environmental scan resulted in the following observations:
e-learning technologies have been widely adopted and are widely used in universities
from a technology perspective, the boundaries between fully online courses and face-to-face teaching are blurring with almost all courses containing an elearning component
administratively, online courses are still seen as distinct forms of teaching and they need to brought into the instructional mainstream
e-learning has been haphazardly and opportunistically integrated into the core teaching and learning activities of universities
university-based strategic planning exercises in the area of e-learning are only recently commencing in Canada.
effective integration of e-learning technologies in teaching and learning requires a good deal of extra effort on the part of instructors
many faculty tend to resist embracing e-learning technologies in their teaching because incentives and rewards are insufficient
increasing the number of staff instructional designers and developers to support e-learning initiatives seems to be a trend.
a senior academic/administrative position overseeing e-learning activity is being proposed at many institutions – this position is distinct from that of an AVP-
ICT or CTO.

Why should the Colleges be interested in e-Learning?
• E-learning is an expectation of our learners and increasingly of our faculty as well.
•
E-learning offers learners and instructors flexibility and can improve learning quality.
• E-learning provides learners with important technology and literacy skills
• E-learning can facilitate new forms of teaching and learning through virtual collaboration and virtual experiential learning, and it improves access to learning resources.
• E-learning can provide opportunities for learners who are unable to participate fully in normal classroom activities because of work or parenting responsibilities or disabilities.
•
E-learning enables distance and distributive education - to reach rural, remote, and international students, and to enter new educational markets.
• E-learning enables the University to leverage its traditional strengths in classroom teaching to bring new learners virtually into classrooms or send classrooms virtually to remote learners.
•
E-learning can help market programs to potential students by opening up courses, course information, or course content for access by others
The taskforce arrived at the following recommendations:
1.
That E-Learning be prominent in future college and institutional strategic plans.
2.
That an e-learning planning framework and set of best practices be made available to colleges and departments prior to the next planning cycle.
3.
That more resources be allocated explicitly for e-learning a.
Resources for instructional design b.
Resources to support major college- or department-level programmatic elearning initiatives c.
Resources to provide appropriate levels of instructor and learner support and adequate incentives for faculty to engage in e-learning d.
Sustained resources for central support for e-learning e.
Targeted resources for research and innovative pilot projects
4.
That coordination of central e-learning services, supports and training be improved. a.
Put in place a mechanism and processes to assure adequate consultation and coordination when new e-learning initiatives, projects, or innovations are about to be introduced. b.
A coordination office for e-learning should be created. c.
To the extent possible, the PAWS portal should become a central access point for all e-learning technologies.

d.
An instructional development strategy should be put into place to encourage and support faculty and instructional staff development and training with e-learning. e.
Instructional design services must be routinely available for all e-learning projects (and for all course, curriculum and program design projects). f.
A communications strategy for e-learning should be developed g.
Collaboration among academic and support units should be maintained to ensure that reorganization or restructuring of the units providing elearning development, support and training are not required.
5.
That specific projects be advanced to accelerate university-wide e-learning activity a.
Open, online course syllabus for all U of S courses (and opportunity for providing open learning resources) b.
Widespread investment in podcasting and coursecasting