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Opportunities for Learning
The concept of "opportunities for learning" is linked to two
prevailing beliefs: first, that there should not be barriers to learning
because it is an important attribute of citizenship and, second, that people
will take advantage of opportunities to learn.
The first belief has served as the basis for many initiatives to
make learning available to a broad range of people, from those in remote
locations to those who have learning disabilities. The second belief can be
problematic because there are different interpretations of what is meant by the
opportunity to learn. While some educational providers take a "build it and
they will come" approach, intended learners sometimes do not participate
because it is not what they wanted or there are barriers the provider did not
perceive. Potential and actual learners, rather than educational providers, are
in the best position to determine what is a genuine learning opportunity.
A "learning opportunity," then, can be defined as a situation in
which the intended learners are able to participate successfully in a program
in a manner that is appropriate to their particular context.
Opportunities for Women
Only in recent years has there been a sense among the Canadian
population that the education of girls and women is equally important as the
education of boys and men. This means that as young people many women did not
have opportunities to proceed with their education. Even despite several
decades of affirmative action and equal opportunity policies, there continue to
be constraints on women's education.
Not until 1981 did the proportion of young women aged 15 to 19
attending school equal that of young men of the same age, and not until 1991
did the proportion of women aged 20 to 24 attending school equal that of men of
the same age.3 In Canadian universities, although there are now
slightly more female than male undergraduates, there is a greater proportion of
male graduate students in most disciplines and far more male full time tenured
faculty. Optimistic estimates are that it will take a generation to change the
profile of a male-dominated academia, to warm up the "chilly climate" that
discourages women from pursuing further studies and bars them equal recognition
as teachers and leaders in the academic world.
In the field of technical and vocational training, factors
ranging from outright hostility to lack of job opportunities discourage a
significant increase in women's participation in what are termed
"non-traditional" trades. There are also women for whom formal or informal
learning has not been available because of circumstances, family or work
commitments, distance, language, or disabilities.
For many women, the possibility that learning could become more
available, accessible and compatible with their needs and goals is exciting.
This paper explores to what extent new learning technologies can support this
possibility and examines some of the limitations.
An Outline of the
Methodology
The investigations carried out for this paper
include:
- discussions with individuals from all of Canada's regions
whose experience encompasses a range of formal and non formal education and
training: programs for women new to Canada, for aboriginal women, professional
women, literacy programs, English as an Additional Language programs, workplace
training and advocacy training
- a review of the literature, including both print and
electronic publications, on women and new learning technologies as well as the
social and economic underpinnings of technology and women's use of technology
for learning
- a review of public policy documents related to technology
and learning, such as reports of the Information Highway Advisory Council
(IHAC), and documentation developed by private and public agencies directly
involved in communications and information fields, (telephone companies, cable
companies, ministries of education).
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