Access to learning can be understood in two ways: physical access is the availability of learning at times and places suitable for the learner; social access involves appropriate content and a supportive environment. This chapter concentrates on physical access.

Factors that determine whether learning is accessible are related to geography, communications and transportation systems, social and economic situations, gender and language. Women's access to education has been significantly curtailed by traditional notions of women's roles. Because of domestic responsibilities, and the limitations of time and money, women have tended to make more use of part-time, flexible, open and distance education, areas where new technology has frequently been introduced.

Removal of barriers to access can be viewed from two sides: as the responsibility of the educational provider or of the learner. For example, requiring students to have internet access to contact an instructor when they previously made use of a 1-800 number shifts responsibility from the provider to the learner.

There are four components of what is termed the "access chain," all of which must be functioning well in order to provide access. These components are:

the national infrastructure: transportation and communications systems such as roads, public transportation, postal service, telephone lines, electricity, and satellite connections. New technologies require more national infrastructure, such as additional telephone lines or more bandwidth on a telephone transmission system. 95% of Canadians have telephone service but nearly 300,000 households have only party line service. Stentor, the alliance of Canadian telephone companies, plans to provide broadband access to 80-90% of businesses and homes by the year 2005 but this service will likely be available in urban areas first at a cheaper rate than in remote or rural areas.

educational providers: provisions of materials and programs, program location, access to teaching, registration and counseling staff. Educational institutions have historically accepted significant responsibility for making programs available to the community and have, in recent years, taken steps to remove barriers for specific groups of learners, ie. students with disabilities. But budget reductions are affecting institutional readiness to provide access and the costs of new technologies may mean reductions in other kinds of access.

the community: local provision of communications and transportation systems, and of local facilities for institutional programs. The level of provision depends on the community, and learners in some communities may travel to other communities to access programs or pay long distance charges to reach an Internet Service Provider. SchoolNet is a federally initiated program to link all schools and libraries to the internet by 1998 and funding is available under the Community Access Program to create greater access to the internet though primarily for business, rather than educational, purposes.

the individual: receipt and appropriateness of transportation and communications systems. Access to single telephone lines and reliable electrical power is not a given for all Canadians; communications software does not readily accommodate languages other than English; computer equipment is expensive. Individuals can lose access to programs if what was delivered previously through correspondence and print is now available only through video conferencing or internet access.

Women's access to new technologies is constrained by social forces. Computer ownership in homes increases with higher incomes; in 1995, only 22% of single parent households owned a computer. Computer use increases with higher educational levels, though more women than men use computers at work reflecting their occupational segregation. Computer use is high among educators though less women than men use computers in teaching. Access to other technology such as fax machines and satellite connection is limited, though 75% of Canadian households have cable service.

Questions:

What is considered good access how does that compare to what is available in a community?

How well are community access learning centers serving women?

Who has access to the Internet? Are there age and gender statistics?

What training is available locally and how accessible or friendly is it for women learners?

How does access to new technologies compare with learning opportunities available previously?

What do learners need to invest personally, in time and money, to obtain access to learning that meets their needs? Is this investment in old or new technologies?

What plans are in place to provide broadband access to communities and what will it cost the user once in place?

Notes