Toward a Virtual Learning Service
For Québec schools and centres:
From concept to project
Presentation to the Quebec English School Boards Association
Pierre Giguère
September 7, 2012
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Presentation Outline
1. The concept of ”virtual school”
2. SOFAD’s report of November 2005
3. Why a Virtual Learning Service?
4. Origins and development of virtual schools
5. On our doorstep: virtual schools in Ontario
6. Still waiting for a Québec distance education policy
7. A strategic development priority for SOFAD
8. Creation of a Partners’ Committee to design and
implement a Virtual Learning Service for Québec
9. Links with other developments
1. The concept of “virtual school”
• A school without walls, without classrooms and without a
limit on the number of students
• A particular form of distance education
• A learning organization that uses the potential of web
technologies, usually in asynchronous mode
1. The concept of “virtual school” …
Definitions
A virtual school, or cyberschool, describes an institution that teaches courses entirely
or primarily through online methods. Though there are tens of thousands of
commercial and non-accredited courses available online, the term "virtual school" is
generally reserved for accredited schools that teach a full-time (or nearly full-time)
course of instruction designed to lead to a degree.
iNACOL (also used on Wikipedia)
Virtual school refers to an institution that is not "brick and mortar" bound. All student
services and courses are conducted through Internet technology. The virtual school
differs from the traditional school through the physical medium that links
administrators, teachers, and students.
The Technology Source Archives, University of North Carolina
1. The concept of “virtual school” …
2. SOFAD’s report of November 2005
- Based on an analysis of cases of
young students who could benefit from
distance education
- Shows the evolution of some virtual
schools
- Ends with recommendations regarding
a distance education service for
secondary-school students and
envisions the creation of a public virtual
school in Québec
3. Why a Virtual Learning Service?
 To increase accessibility and flexibility in our educational system
 To offer a common service to all the school boards
 To give schools and centres more options
 To more effectively meet the needs and constraints of particular
client groups
 To bring back to the public sector those students who are not enrolled
in our institutions
 To solve the difficulties that many regions face with respect to recruiting
specialized teachers and starting classes for optional subjects
 To modernize learning environments in Québec’s school system
 To facilitate perseverance and success for all students
4. Origins and development
of virtual schools
Florida Virtual High School: The first
FLVS was founded in 1997 and was the country's first, state-wide
Internet-based public high school
http://www.flvs.net/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.flvs.net/areas/aboutus/Pages/QuickFactsaboutFLVS.aspx
4. Origins and development
of virtual schools …
FVHS is also the best known, the largest, the most
documented, the most covered, the most open (to
sharing)…
Student Enrollment
FVHS served over 122,000 students in 259,928 half-credit
enrollments in the 2010-2011 school year. Enrollment is open
to public, private, and home-schooled students.
Courses are offered from P1 to S12
FVHS students come from all of the other American states
and from other countries (57)
5. On our doorstep: virtual scools in
Ontario
• There is a private virtual school in Ottawa: the Ottawa Carleton
E-School
http://www.ottawacarletone-school.ca/
• The Ontario Virtual High School
https://www.virtualhighschool.com/
• The Virtual Learning Centre
http://www.virtuallearning.ca/
• Le Consortium d’apprentissage virtuel de langue française de
l’Ontario
http://www.apprentissageenligne.org/
-located in Ottawa
-under the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE)
6. Still waiting for a Québec
distance education policy
• The MELS had a working committe on a distance education
policy from 2008 to 2011
• Many entities in the educational system have been asking for
such a policy for more than 15 years
• Around the year 2000, we were told that such a policy would
be covered in the Politique gouvernementale d’éducation des
adultes et de formation continue (2002)
• A possible turning point: in July 2010, through
videoconferencing, CLIFAD members explained the value of a
virtual high school to representatives of the MELS’s Direction
des politiques and to the Minister of Education’s
parliamentary assistant, Mr Michel Pigeon
7. A strategic development priority
for SOFAD
• Our first priority: To promote the development of distance
education
• To make distance education available to secondary-school
students
• To create a Virtual Learning Service in Québec
• for young and adult students
• for francophones and anglophones
8. Creation of a Partners’ Committe
to design and implement
a Virtual Learning Service for Québec
• A small committee began meeting in September 2011. Its
membership will be augmented in the near future by:
- representatives from the secondary education sector and
the adult education sector.
• SOFAD suggests that we start by offering Secondary IV and
Secondary V courses.
• So far, 5 meetings have been held.
• We are now working on describing and designing the Virtual
Learning Service we envision and on writing proposals to be
submitted to the school boards and the MELS.
9. Links with other developments
Presentation to
the Québec English School Boards Association
September 13, 2012
Pierre Giguère
This, and other, presentations
are available at
www.sofad.qc.ca/html/sof_doc.html
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