The Delivery System Learning groups
were held at a variety of times.

The program was designed for part- time study, thus allowing students to continue their regular responsibilities. It was offered at a variety of times, day and evening, and students were grouped according to their time preference. A study group of 10-12 individuals which met weekly served as the 'home base' for the students while the Saturday sessions offered the opportunity to mingle with students outside their group and these sessions were structured in ways to ensure that such mingling took place.

The program was structured to enable this small group to evolve as a self-help learning group in the belief that cooperation and collaboration among members speed skill learning, increase the student knowledge base and allow individuals the opportunity to tryout new ideas and behaviours with a minimum of risk.

The study group was facilitated by a tutor whose role was to act as a guide to the group, assisting members to define and pursue the goals of the weekly meetings, presenting information and tasks relevant to each meeting's agenda and stimulating discussion on issues related to learning problems. While she often provided instruction she was just as often a co-learner with the students. Her 'content' expertise was her knowledge of adult learning processes, group dynamics and strategies for effective learning.

The Saturday sessions were designed as the means to provide 'expert' instruction. At this time, outside resource people were brought in to provide formal - and somewhat less formal instruction on computers, problem-solving and features of the contemporary work world.

An important goal of this delivery design was to enable students to become pro-active learners. As an outstanding feature of the contemporary work world is rapid change requiring continuous learning, students were helped to develop a critical awareness of their own process of learning and to develop strategies to enhance the effectiveness of their learning skills. The over-all goal was that the students would see themselves as successful learners, regardless of the subject.

Program content was problem-based
and not subject based

While computers, math and the contemporary work world were presented as subjects to learn about, they were never taught as abstract entities. Instead, the learning was personalized; the students learned these subjects in order to be able to answer the large question of the implications of the Information Age for their lives. Each component in the program was designed to help them answer that question. Therefore, students learned how to use the computer as a tool in a variety of applications and, most importantly for their future, they learned the differences between computer logic and human logic and the kinds of problems the computer can and cannot solve. Similarly, every attempt was made to relate the experience of learning math skills to the realities of the contemporary work world. There was continuous discussion of which kinds of math skills were necessary in which job areas so that students could build an application for their skills as they were learning.

Students learned research skills by engaging in an Action research project in which they were to apply their new skills and knowledge to explore through interviews and field research, a job area of choice and predict a five year outcome for it based on their understanding of computer technology and special features of the Information Age. They then shared their research results with their group.