In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Toronto Police Service was exploring how to increase access to higher education to its officers. The service saw higher education as salient to its organizational imperatives of professionalization, increased public legitimacy and credibility, and enhanced academic recognition of police professional learning.…

A paucity of research exists on using action research with parents, particularly within the framework of parent education. The current study explores the development phase of a community-academic partnership (CAP) that designed a workshop and interactive toolkit to educate mothers on how to navigate social networking sites. The CAP (N = 10) was…

Interest in older adult education (OAE) is intensifying for several reasons. The number of older adults in Canada is growing, increasing the proportion of older people in the population. Many older adults are now more active and want creative challenges, opportunities to learn, and chances to contribute to their community. In turn, cognitive and…

Family-focused early learning programs aim to assist parents in supporting their young children language and literacy development. This study examined program access and learning opportunities for diverse families across a wide range of community-based settings in one eastern Canadian province. As well, the study examined practitioners'…

The tradition of leaving high school and finding full-time employment after grade 8 has put Low German-speaking (LGS) Mennonites in rural Southwestern Ontario in a vulnerable economic position. Consequently, alternative education programs have been developed by Ontario public school boards in areas containing high numbers of LGS Mennonites. The…

This case recounts the story of the design and production of a series of online workshops for French-speaking healthcare professionals in Canada. The project spans a couple of years and, despite encountering some challenges, succeeds in large part because of its strong foundation: the instructional design. This case study features an instructional…

Introduction: In the Province of Quebec, Canada, it is estimated that only about one-third of working-age adults with visual impairments are part of the workforce, despite ongoing efforts of rehabilitation and government agencies to integrate these individuals. The present article describes the development and adaptation of a pre-employment…

Family literacy programs in North America and the United Kingdom have enjoyed widespread public and political support. Thousands of initiatives following a variety of models currently operate under the spectrum of family literacy programs. In this paper, the influence of learning theories, the research on children's early literacy development, and…

Developing educational programs for older adults who are highly educated and healthy is necessary in order to meet the learning needs for this specific group. One response to this demand for educational programs is the Learning in Retirement Organization (LIR). LIR began in New York City in 1962 as an educational program for retired professionals.…

This article describes and analyzes actors' experiences of distance learning systems in a wide variety of cultural and organizational contexts. In line with the project of this special series of issues, results of research, much of which is longitudinal, allow us to suggest answers to the following questions: Who are the actors of distance…

The current round of basic education curriculum reform in China is considered by many to be the most radical and wide-reaching. However, very little is known about education reform at the school level. Here we document and discuss some of the challenges and opportunities that the reform programme is providing for teachers and schools. We describe…

In 1997 the British Columbia Open University (BCOU) adopted a virtualization strategy based primarily on twinning off-line independent study distance education courses (textbook-based with study guide and telephone and e-mail tutor support) with alternate online versions (textbook-based with integrated conferencing and communications provided…

This paper reports on a 2004 follow-up study conducted in partnership with the University of Manitoba Continuing Education Division and local senior's organizations. The partnership was formed in 2002-03 to promote applied research on lifelong learning and older adults, develop new and complement existing educational activities, and explore new…

This discussion paper is part of a larger Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) project entitled "Linkages: Connecting Literacy and English as a Second Language" (ESL). The goal of the overall project is for MCL to work with national organizations that support the ESL/Settlement and literacy fields to identify common issues and concerns…

This comparative study explored differences in perceptions between Canadian and US post secondary faculty in the fields of adult education (AdEd) and human resource development (HRD) on program development issues in the emerging field of "workplace learning." In fall of 2001, The Adult Education and Human Resource Development Faculty…