(THUNDER BAY) – Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education & Training
Network, today released its Top Ten Wish List for Online Learning in 2016, which
outlines ten developments it hopes to see happen in online learning this year.

The top ten developments include foundational wishes – we stop debating about
whether or not online learning is as effective as classroom teaching – to practical items
such as a broadband Internet access for all Canadians and better data to help make
decisions to making full use of online learning to using online learning to meet the
expanding education and training needs of Canada’s fast-growing Aboriginal population.

“2016 is the year online learning programs and courses, when developed the right way,
are finally accepted as being equal to, or better, than classroom-based programs and
courses” noted Maxim Jean-Louis, President – Chief Executive Officer, Contact North |
Contact Nord. “It is time that all involved with higher education accept that online
learning is simply part of the mix of options offered to learners for each program and
course.”

The Top Ten Wish List for Online Learning in 2016 includes:

1. We stop debating about whether or not online learning is as effective as
   classroom teaching.
2. Canada starts collecting quality data about online, blended and flexible learning
   so that we can make evidence-based policy decisions.
3. The federal government and service providers accelerate broadband Internet
   access for all Canadians.
4. Indigenous 0nline learning comes of age.
5. Innovative assessment tools appear in significant numbers and grow in
   acceptance.
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6. Learner mobility becomes a focal point for public policy.
7. Access and increased accommodation expand.
8. New funding models for higher education begin to appear in 2016.
9. Significant growth in collaborative and global programs.
10. A relaunch of major and sustained initiatives in e-Apprenticeship.
    

The full text of Contact North | Contact Nord’s Top 10 Wish List for Online Learning in
2016 can be found on its teachonline.ca portal, which provides information and
resources for faculty and instructors teaching online.

Contact North | Contact Nord partners with Ontario’s 24 public colleges, 22 public
universities, and 250 public literacy and basic skills and training providers to provide local
access to education and training opportunities. Funded by the Government of Ontario
continuously since 1986, Contact North | Contact Nord supports over 4 million Ontario
residents living in 600 small, remote, rural, Aboriginal and Francophone communities to
access post-secondary education and training without having to leave their community.

Visit studyonline.ca or call the Student Information Hotline at 1-877-999-9149 for more
information on available online programs and courses and how to connect with one of
the 112 Contact North | Contact Nord online learning centres located in communities
across the province.