Opportunities for learning

The concept of "opportunities for learning" is linked to several prevailing beliefs--first, that there should not be barriers that impede people from learning, because learning is such an important attribute of citizenship, and second, that if the opportunity for learning is there, people will take advantage of it.

The first concept has served as the basis for many initiatives to make learning available to people who had been previously excluded for a variety of reasons, ranging from remote location to learning disabilities.

The second concept can be problematic, because there may be different interpretations of what is meant by the opportunity to learn. While some educational providers may take a "build it and they will come" approach, there are situations in which the intended learners do not participate, because it was not what learners wanted or there were barriers the provider did not perceive. Potential and actual learners, rather than educational providers, are in the best position to determine whether or not a situation is a genuine learning opportunity.

A "learning opportunity" can be defined as a situation in which the intended learners are able to participate successfully in a program that meets their learning needs, in a manner that is appropriate to their particular context.

Learning opportunities for women

Only in recent years has there been a growing sense among the Canadian population that the education of girls and women was equally important as the education of boys and men. This means that many adult women did not have opportunities to proceed with their education as young people. Even now, despite several decades of affirmative action and equal opportunity policies, there are continuing situations that result in constraints on womens' education.

For example, it was not until 1981 that the proportion of young women aged 15 to 19 attending school equaled that of young men of the same age, and not until 1991 that the proportion of women aged 20 to 24 attending school equaled that of men of the same age. ³ In Canadian universities, although there are now slightly more female than male undergraduates, there is still a greater proportion of male graduate students in most disciplines, and far more male than female 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 for women" that can still discourage women from pursuing further studies and obtaining equal recognition as teachers and leaders in the academic world.

In the field of technical and vocational training, despite many initiatives to encourage greater participation by women in training for occupations traditionally held by men, there are factors ranging from outright hostility to lack of job opportunities on graduation that have discouraged a significantly greater increase in participation in what are termed "non-traditional" trades.

In addition to these factors related to institutional and social contexts, there are women for whom formal or informal learning was not previously available because of barriers such as those presented by social or economic circumstances, family or work commitments, distance, language, disabilities.

A Working Definition

Learning opportunities for women, in the context of this discussion paper, refers to learning opportunities for several categories of adult women who are beyond the traditional age range of those who continue an uninterrupted education from elementary school to post secondary graduation. These include:

• those whose personal circumstances has precluded the opportunity to pursue learning to attain the educational goals of their choice,
  
  
• those for whom institutional and social barriers made learning difficult or impossible, who look to a "second chance" for learning,
  
  
• those for whom continuing to learn is an important part of their lives, whether it is non formal learning that supports their work, community or family endeavors, or "learning for its own sake" that is part of personal development.

For many women, the promise of learning becoming more available, accessible and compatible with their needs and goals is an exciting possibility. This paper explores to what extent new learning technologies can support the realization of this promise and examines some of the factors that can limit these possibilities.

An outline of the methodology

The investigations carried out for preparation of this paper included:

• discussions with individuals concerned with women's learning, 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 a Second Language programs, workplace training and advocacy training.
  
  
• a review of the literature on women and new learning technologies; including print and electronic publications in the fields of distance education, educational technology; critical analyses of the social and economic underpinnings of technology and women's use of technology for learning.
  
  
• a review of public policy documents about issues 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).