The document summarizes a panel discussion on K-12 online and blended learning across Canada. The panelists represented the Canadian eLearning Network, Touro University, Vista Virtual School Alberta, Ignite Centre for eLearning Alberta, Ontario eLearning Consortium, and CAVLFO. The panel discussed current practices in each Canadian province, with many moving towards more centralized online learning programs. Key trends included a focus on blended learning at the classroom level and ensuring online learning is integrated into regular teaching practice. While models vary between centralized and decentralized approaches, completion rates do not significantly differ depending on the approach; success depends more on teacher quality. The discussion concluded by emphasizing that online learning continues to grow in importance despite challenges during

1. CANADIAN CROSS-CANADA ROUNDUP
Panel
Randy LaBonte, Canadian eLearning Network
Michael Barbour, Touro University, State of the Nation researcher
Frank McCallum, Board Chair, Vista Virtual School Alberta
Daylene Laumann - Ignite Centre for eLearning, Alberta
Jon Procter - Ontario eLearning Consortium (OeLC)
Claude Pierre-Louie - CAVLFO (Ontario)

2. LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We acknowledge our CANeLearn office is situated in xwilkway on the traditional
land of the shíshàlth nation who cared for this land for centuries before.
They continue to lead our Coast Salish community’s development and sustainability
as advisors, leaders, and investors. We are grateful for their stewardship of the
Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, an hour north of Vancouver by water.

3. CANeLearn is a pan-
Canadian network of K-12
online and blended learning
schools, organizations, and
educators
Focus is on PD, research,
sharing resources
Intent is to leverage our
Canadian collective to
promote online and
blended, or e-learning
MISSION: To be the leading
voice in Canada for learner
success in K-12 online and
blended learning
https://CANeLearn.n
et
About the Canadian eLearning Network

4. SESSION OUTCOMES
• WHY ARE YOU HERE?
• WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO LEARN?
• HOW CAN WE HELP?
• OUR GOALS
• SHARE SUCCESSES AND ISSUES, E-LEARNING POLICY AND PRACTICES
• HOW EVOLVING CANADIAN PRACTICE AND POLICY CAN HELP YOUR OWN.

5. k12sotn.ca/
Annual report: State of e-learning in
Canada

6. EDUCATION IN CANADA

7. NATIONAL OVERVIEW

8. REGULATION

9. ACTIVITY: DISTANCE & ONLINE LEARNING

10. ACTIVITY: DISTANCE & ONLINE LEARNING

11. ACTIVITY: DISTANCE & ONLINE LEARNING

12. k12sotn.ca/
Annual report: State of e-learning in
Canada

13. NATURE OF ACTIVITY
NL
NS
NB
PE

14. NATURE OF ACTIVITY
ON
QC

15. ONTARIO TIMELINE
• MARCH 2019. PROVINCE ANNOUNCE MANDATORY REQUIREMENT OF 4 CREDITS
• MARCH 2019. TWO WEEKS LATER REDUCED TO 2 MANDATORY CREDITS
• NOVEMBER 2019. MINISTER ANNOUNCE OPT OUT FOR ANY STUDENTS
• MARCH 2020. ANNOUNCEMENT THAT TVO/TFO WILL PROVIDE CENTRALISED
SYSTEMS AND COURSES FOR E-LEARNING
• MAY 2020 REPRESENTATIONS SENT TO MINISTRY REGARD OELC FROM PARTNER
GROUPS
• OCT 2021 PROCESS OF CONSULTATION BEGINS FOR PPM 167 AND CENTRALIZED
PROVISION
• DEC 2021 MOVE AWAY FROM CENTRALIZED SERVICE TO MODELS OF BEST PRACTICE
ALREADY AVAILABLE EXCEPT FOR COURSE CONTENT DEVELOPMENT PROVIDE BY
TVO/TFO - (FAITH BASED EDUCATION AND FRENCH LANGUAGE EDUCATION
SUPPORTED IN REDEVELOPMENT OF TVO/TFO CONTENT)
• FEBRUARY 2, 2022 POLICY AND PROGRAM MEMORANDUM 167

16. PPM 167 Mandatory Online Learning
Students who entered Grade 9 from 2020-2021 must earn two online learning credits
• Up to one secondary school credit completed remotely by current grade 11 students is counted
towards the new graduation requirement.
Parents and guardians have the choice to opt out of the mandatory online learning credits.
Remote learning credits are ineligible. (except for proviso listed above)
Courses are available Grade 9-12, are teacher-led and are delivered through Ontario School Boards by
Board-hired and Board-supervised Ontario-certified teachers. Students are not required to be physically
present with each other or with their educator in the school. Teach local Learn Global.

17. Most Ontario School Boards are members of one of the e-learning school board consortia that support
greater access to a variety of online learning courses for students.
Courses are delivered through the provincial vLE (D2L’s BrightSpace) to which all teachers in publicly
funded Ontario schools have access.
Content for Ontario courses, produced for D2L’s BrightSpace, has been provided to Ontario School
Boards and teachers by the Ministry of Education for use in online and blending learning.
Courses are now being written and made available by TVO (30 courses recently released with short-
and long-term plans for continued course writing and production). Samples are available to view at
http://www.ontariocoursepreview.ca/.
Course development and revamping for the French language school boards are now being overseen
by the CAVLFO (French Language Virtual Learning Consortium of Ontario) who is working with it’s
partners (CFORP and TFO). Teachers from the Consortium are involved in the content validation
process.
PPM 167 Mandatory Online Learning

18. NATURE OF ACTIVITY
SK
AB
BC

19. FROM THE STATE OF THE NATION REPORT
https://k12sotn.ca/a
b/

20. CURRENTLY
● 46 PROGRAMS OPERATING THROUGHOUT THE PROVINCE (SEE
ALBERTA EDUCATION’S ONLINE LEARNING DIRECTORY:
HTTPS://WWW.ALBERTA.CA/ONLINE-
LEARNING.ASPX#JUMPLINKS-2
● APPROXIMATELY ¼ ARE OFFERED THROUGH PRIVATE SCHOOLS
● DECENTRALIZED IN TERMS OF LEARNING MANAGEMENT
SYSTEMS AND PROGRAM OPERATION. MAJORITY INCLUDE D2L,
MOODLE, CANVAS, AND SCHOOLOGY
● MAJORITY OF STUDENTS REGISTERED IN HIGH SCHOOL
PROGRAMS, ABOUT ¼ IN GRADES 1 TO 9

21. CURRENTLY
● AFTER THE CLOSURE OF THE ALBERTA DISTANCE LEARNING CENTRE, THE
PROVINCIAL FUNDING MODEL CHANGED AND IS PRIMARILY BASED ON
COURSE COMPLETIONS (HIGH SCHOOL).
● SCHOOL AUTHORITIES CAN NOW RECEIVE A SMALL AMOUNT OF BLOCK
FUNDING FOR REGISTERING STUDENTS IN THEIR ONLINE LEARNING
PROGRAM FROM OTHER SCHOOL AUTHORITIES.
● RESOURCES ARE SHARED THROUGH A GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATION - THE
MOODLEHUB.
● SCHOOLS ARE REQUIRED TO SHARE THEIR RESOURCES IF THEY ARE
FUNDED FOR ONLINE/DISTANCE LEARNING.
● ALL TEACHERS AND SCHOOL AUTHORITY LEADERS ARE REQUIRED TO
MEET ALBERTA’S LEGISLATED PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE STANDARDS FOR
CERTIFICATION, REGARDLESS OF SCHOOL OR PROGRAM.

22. NATURE OF ACTIVITY
SK
AB
BC

23. CROSS-CANADA E-LEARNING CHANGES 2022
https://bit.ly/xCanada22

24. IN CONCLUSION

25. PAN-CANADIAN TRENDS
• CENTRALIZING PROVINCIAL PROGRAMS
• SHIFT AWAY FROM COMPETING ONLINE SCHOOLS
• FOCUS LESS ON PROVINCE-WIDE ONLINE TO LOCAL ONLINE
• EXPANSION/INTEGRATION OF ONLINE AT CLASSROOM LEVEL
• SURGE IN E-LEARNING AT THE CLASSROOM LEVEL (BLENDED)
• ON LICENSES FOR CLASSROOM, BC/AB BLENDED LEARNING
PROVINCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
• E-LEARNING JUST ANOTHER PART OF ALL TEACHER’S PRACTICE

26. CENTRALIZED OR DECENTRALIZED? DL OR CLASSROOM?
• SMALLER JURISDICTIONS CENTRALIZE, LARGER DECENTRALIZE
• NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN COMPLETION RATES
• COMPLETION RATES FOR ONLINE BC 89%, ON UP TO 94%
• CDLI (NL): 86.8% COMPLETION VS. 80.9% IN CLASSROOMS
• MEDIUM OR MODEL NOT THE DIFFERENCE – TEACHERS ARE
• THE TRUCK THAT DELIVERS GROCERIES DOES NOT CHANGE NUTRITION
• RESEARCHERS CONSTANTLY ASKED DOES BLENDED AND ONLINE LEARNING WORK?
THE BETTER QUESTION?
UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS CAN THEY WORK?
https://canelearn.net/which-is-more-effective-centralized-or-decentralized/

27. RESEARCH
PROJECTS
CANeLEARN.NET/
RESEARCH/
PROJECTS/

28. Questions??
• What can we do for you?
• What are you still wondering about?
• What advice do you have for us?

29. Other CANeLearn Sessions at DLAC
Tuesday
Pandemic Pedagogy: Lessons for future digital learning
Griffin Hall TT4, 02/14/2023, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
· 11:00 AM - 11:38 AM Table Talk
State of the Nation: K-12 e-Learning in Canada
JW Grand Ballroom - EXHIBIT HALL· Poster Session 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
Design Principles for Digital Learning and NSQOL Standards:
Commonalities & Differences
Room 202, 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM Contributed Talk (1 segment)

30. Links to Reports
CANeLearn Remote Learning Research site:
https://sites.google.com/view/canelearn-
ert/
CANeLearn research projects:
https://canelearn.net/home/research/projec
ts/
State of the Nation: K-12 e-Learning in Canada
reports:

31. CANeLearn Publications
Publications
• Barbour, M. K., LaBonte, R., Kelly, K., Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust, T., Bond, A., &
Hill, P. (2020). Understanding pandemic pedagogy: Differences between emergency remote,
remote, and online teaching. Canadian eLearning Network. https://k12sotn.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2020/12/understanding-pandemic-pedagogy.pdf
• Barbour, M. K., LaBonte, R., & Nagle, J. (2020). State of the nation study: K-12 e-learning in
Canada. Canadian eLearning Network. https://k12sotn.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2021/09/StateNation20.pdf
• Archibald, D., Barbour, M. K., Leary, H., Wilson, E. V., & Ostashewski, N. (2020). Teacher
education and K-12 online learning. Canadian eLearning Network. https://k12sotn.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2020/07/k12ol-teacher-ed.pdf
• Barbour, M.K. & LaBonte, R. (2019). Sense of irony or perfect timing: Examining the research
supporting proposed e-learning changes in Ontario | International Journal of E-Learning &
Distance Education / Revue internationale du e-learning et la formation à distance. [online]
Ijede.ca. Available at: http://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/1137
Defining e-Learning in Canada https://k12sotn.ca/papers/defining-e-learning-in-canada/
Presentations https://k12sotn.ca/presentations/

32. 32
CANeLearn.net
All panelists
• Randy LaBonte, Canadian eLearning Network
• Michael Barbour, Touro University, State of the Nation
• Frank McCallum, Board Chair, Vista Virtual School Alberta
• Daylene Laumann - Ignite Centre for eLearning, Alberta
• Jon Procter - Ontario eLearning Consortium (OeLC)
• Claude Pierre-Louie - CAVLFO (Ontario)

33. Research site - https://sites.google.com/view/canelearn-ert/
CANeLearn Projects - https://canelearn.net/home/research/projects/

34. • RETURN TO THE “NEW NORMAL”
o GREATER INTEREST IN K-12 ONLINE LEARNING
oON-GOING, OFTEN LONG-TERM EXAMINATIONS OF THE FIELD
HAVE CONCLUDED
o GREATER MOVEMENT TOWARDS CENTRALIZED SERVICES OR
PROGRAMS
o K-12 ONLINE LEARNING BECOMING MORE POLITICAL
• CONTINUE TO BE OUTLIERS
• GREATER AWARENESS ≠ GREATER KNOWLEDGE
GENERAL TRENDS

35. Time lost to province-wide school closures for each province or territory across Canada for the 2020-21 school year

36. CRITICAL
NOTIONS
GOING
FORWARD
Despite stops and starts, mixed practices, and
only growing understanding of K-12 online
pedagogy, online learning is not going away
Pandemic practice exposed many, many
inequities in access and support
Without sizeable investment, support, and
training any growth in online will be hampered
and will not fully serve students
The voices and knowledge of those in this
practice for many years need to rise to the
forefront now to inform deliberate planning
for effective use of the online medium