Expectations of the educator in providing access

Another expectation that has shaped our understanding of access is that the educational provider has some responsibility in reaching out to provide access, especially to learners in remote areas. As a result of this principle, in the early part of this century, many provincial education departments set up correspondence education systems to enable children to complete their learning at home. Many of these programs are still going strong, serving younger students in remote areas, those who choose to study at home, and, increasingly, providing a "second chance" option for adult learners who want to complete elementary or secondary school programs.

This principle of the educator taking the initiative to reach the learner goes beyond the level of compulsory education. Universities with a mandate to serve an entire province, such as the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Alberta, set up programs in their early years to provide access both to formal and non formal learning. The University of Saskatchewan, for example, took The Good Farming Train to railway sidings in each community, providing nonformal education in farming practice and home economics.

In the area of formal education, a number of post secondary institutions offered courses by correspondence, in which learners followed a written program of studies and communicated with their instructor by letter. These programs were often the only option for learners, because of remoteness, disability, lack of funds, or family commitments, and no doubt were challenging and often isolating experiences for individual learners. Nonetheless, many people successfully completed their qualifications in this way.

Many of the early correspondence programs provided a basis for expanded developments in distance education. In recent decades, systems were enhanced by improved materials, more learner support, and use of a broader range of instructional approaches and media.

Issues emerging from the educator's role in access

It seems reasonable to expect that new technologies and systems should not provide less access than those already in place to provide flexible access to learners in many parts of Canada. In a sense, the old systems can serve as a benchmark for the new ones.

Although there is a tradition of educational providers taking a certain responsibility for providing access to learners (albeit within the providers' concept of access), a number of factors, including changing financial arrangements, are increasing the pressure on institutions to manage expectations around accessibility. Later in this section, we will consider how institutional policies around access and new learning technologies interact to redefine what is meant by access.