Like
the Internet, e-learning is young - still in its formative years. While it's
learning technology ancestry can be traced back decades, 1995-2000 were the
emergent pioneering years. The Internet became pervasive. Education and
learning, along with mail, music, movies, and news, went online.
As
part of e-learning's maturation process the last two years have seen e-learning
alliances form at the local, national and international level.
Here
in British Columbia one of the first to form was the New Media BC eLearning
Special Interest Group. http://www.newmediabc.com
This group has been building a local e-learning community through professional
development and networking events for the past three years.
New
Media BC eLearning Special Interest Group activities include:
-
evening
events on a theme or topic of interest to eLearning practitioners
-
informal
eLearning salons and networking opportunities
-
eLearning
workshops
-
eLearning
conferences
-
eLearning
Awards
-
a
directory of eLearning companies
Spawning
out of the New Media BC eLearning Special Interest Group came eLearningBC. http://www.elearningbc.ca
This alliance of about 50 companies is pursuing a business development mandate.
The focus is on:
-
working
to grow the market
-
getting
companies working together to get business
-
reducing
marketing and promotion costs through joint participation in trade shows,
trade missions, advertising and bid opportunities
-
organizing
and strengthening BC e-learning companies as an industry sector
-
fostering
and growing a national voice for e-learning in Canada while fulfilling the
promise for BC
eLearningBC
has been very active:
-
a
team of 10 companies attended Online Learning 2002 in Los Angeles
-
a
listserv for members has been set up that enables communication of news and
business opportunities
-
joint
bids among member companies have been made on various RFP's
-
a
marketing and business development trade mission went to Ottawa to promote
BC's e-learning prowess
-
methods
for "co-opetition" are being worked out allowing small to medium
companies to collectively bid on large contracts
-
a
website has been created
-
working
groups for marketing and sector development develop strategy through regular
virtual and face-to-face meetings
-
a
business plan is in the works accompanying eLearningBC's recent
incorporation
Earlier
this year eLearningBC took its message on the road, visiting Kelowna, Prince
George and other BC communities. This outreach, sponsored by Industry Canada,
sought to awaken interest in e-learning, talk about the range of remote
community problems e-learning solves and expand its membership.
Members
of eLearningBC met with representatives from the Premier's Technology Advisory
Council (PTAC) this week. The PTAC's latest report has a section titled,
"E-Learning and an OnLine Learning Industry in British Columbia". Web
site for the report is: http://www.gov.bc.ca/prem/down/
The
e-learning section of this report focuses on the importance of e-learning
credentialing and creation of an accrediting board to ensure quality. While
these are important, clearly they are only a small component of a more
comprehensive vision which should encompass other aspects of e-learning
including technology and services related to design, development and
deployment.
eLearningBC
hopes to get British Columbia provincial government support for an E-Learning
Summit. This summit will seek to pull together all those in BC with an
entrepreneurial interest in e-learning to define and coordinate the development
of BC's e-learning economic sector.
The
Vancouver New Media Innovation Centre (NewMIC) http://www.newmic.com
is also playing a role in BC by conducting e-learning research. Doing applied
research in concert with partners such as Simon Fraser University's eLearning
Innovation Centre http://www.elinc.sfu.ca
NewMIC is working to ensure BC's e-learning sector has longevity. Research
informs applied practice and generates innovations which move the industry
forward.
One
thing is clear, e-learning is becoming an economic sector. The combined efforts
of all these initiatives show BC has the talent and opportunity to make
e-learning a vibrant sector of its new economy along with alternative energy,
life sciences, film, games, and wireless.
In
British Columbia grassroots initiatives have created an organized, proactive
industry sector. Other provinces such as Quebec and New Brunswick also have
established e-learning industry sectors formed in partnership with their
provincial governments.
Alliances
on the provincial front have synergy with a similar development at the national
level. In December of 2002 the Canadian eLearning Enterprise Alliance (CeLEA)
was formed. http://www.celea.ca
CeLEA
is a Pan-Canadian alliance of e-learning industry alliances from across the
country. Nine out of thirteen Canadian provinces and territories have been at
CeLEA meetings.
CeLEA
is pursuing market growth of the Canadian industry. They want to promote and
brand Canadian e-learning - including e-learning from all sectors, K-12,
post-secondary, corporate, and government. CeLEA's mission is to significantly
improve the deal flow of Canada's e-learning industry.
Industry
Canada's Office of International Partnerships, a part of Canada's Information
Highway Application Branch http://oip-bpi.ic.gc.ca/ihab-e.html
has been a key enabler helping the formation of CeLEA.
The
Information Highway Application Branch has a long history of enabling
e-learning's use for public sector initiatives like SchoolNet. CeLEA brings a
commercialization and business development focus that seeks to leverage
Canada's position as a recognized leader in this field.
Over
the last few years many federal government departments have undertaken
e-learning initiatives. But for CeLEA members this fragmentation made dealing
with the federal government onerous.
In
response to CeLEA the federal government has recently formed an
Interdepartmental Working Group on E-Learning Development (IDWGELD). Current
membership consists of Industry Canada, Department
of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), Human
Resources Development Canada (HRDC), Canadian
Heritage, CANARIE, and
the National Research
Council (NRC) - and is expanding to include Public
Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), Health
Canada and the Department of
National Defense.
IDWGELD
will act as the coordinated channel into the federal government for CeLEA and
CeLEA will act as the coordinating channel for the federal government into the
e learning sector of Canada - a form of public/private partnership. For CeLEA
having a one stop federal government partner is a blessing.
As
you can see from the list of federal government departments in IDWGELD,
e-learning is playing an essential role in e-government. In fact Canada has a
worldwide reputation in this area and some government initiatives are leading
to opportunities for international e-learning contracts. CeLEA provides an
outlet for the federal government to feed possible deals.
CeLEA
is in fact very interested in the international market. Large multi-million
dollar deals are out there. Forming an alliance of alliances gives Canada's
many e-learning small to medium enterprises a mechanism to collaborate on the
pursuit and fulfillment of those deals.
At
this time, as a market, Canada itself is too small to sustain an e-learning
economic sector. Most Canadian e-learning providers do greater than fifty
percent of their business as an export.
CeLEA's
goal is to position Canadian e-learning as one of top three countries in the
world within three years. To fulfill that goal CeLEA is:
-
defining
membership rules
-
establishing
a brokerage model for deal flow
-
preparing
a business plan
-
seeking
financing
-
developing
strategic partnership with federal government
Concurrent
with these developments Canadian Consulates are stepping up to help. The
Canadian Consulate in San Francisco http://www.cdntrade.com
recently held a Partnership Strategy Workshop for Canadian e-learning companies
looking to forming partnerships and strategic alliances with San
Francisco/Silicon Valley companies. During this workshop Canadian companies got
to:
-
learn
about the current state of e-learning in San Francisco/Silicon Valley
-
learn
about partnership models and opportunities in San Francisco/Silicon Valley
-
earn
how to effectively market your eLearning company for partnerships in San
Francisco/Silicon Valley
-
meet
with leading industry analysts
-
hear
directly from some of the key players and corporations in the industry who
are influencing future eLearning directions
-
network
with San Francisco/Silicon Valley based eLearning professionals
-
meet
with key eLearning organizations in San Francisco/Silicon Valley
Led
by Gazel http://www.gazel.org
a group of e-learning clusters in the United States have undertaken to get
status as an industry and be blessed with national statistics by applying to
have e-learning become part of the North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS). To qualify they had to generate a proposal of four parts:
-
Specific
detail about the economic activities to be covered by the proposed industry
-
Specific
indication of the relationship of the proposed industry to the current NAICS
-
Documentation
of the size and importance of this industry to the United States
-
Information
about the e-learning industry in Canada and Mexico.
E-learning's
formation as an economic sector is due to alliances rippling out from local,
regional, national and international initiatives. My hat goes off to all those
who have invested the sweat equity, passion, and commitment to make this
happen.
Paul Stacey, is an e-learning
specialist in corporate and higher education working in Simon
Fraser University's eLearning Innovation Centre (eLINC). A frequent
e-learning speaker and workshop leader Paul produces active and alive learning
as part of LearningTimes
a free online community for education professionals. Contact:
Paul Stacey
What Do You Think? Talk Back To Paul
Stacey
E-Learning: An
opinionated monthly column exploring the current use, future potential, and
commercial value of e-learning in BC’s high tech sector.
E-Learning
Archive: an index and links to all the E-learning columns Paul has written
for T-Net going back to April 2000.
