Learning communities in the oil sands, and in remote and rural Alberta.

1
Learning communities in the oil sands, and in
remote and rural Alberta.

• Patrick Fahy Nancy Steel
• Athabasca University
• Alberta North Access Symposium
• 8 May, 2008
• Keyano College
• Fort McMurray

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Origin of the Learning Communities Project

• Athabasca University model open and distance
  university offerings on various lines
• DE model reduce barriers for remote, rural
  communities, camp residents, due to work,
  personal realities
• Project funded by a donation from Canadian
  Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ), in-kind from AU.
• Develop people, wants competitive advantage.
• Do well while doing good.

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Project objectives

• To transform the workplace and communities.
• To address personal goals with respect to career
  change, advancement.
• To find new ways of creating learning communities
  in rural and remote areas.
• (For corporate sponsors) To address problems
  attracting and retaining skilled workforce
• To identify and promote viable offerings from
  Alberta institutions

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Project principles

• Focus on 4 targeted audiences camp workers,
  northern and rural residents, aboriginals
• Initial focus on CNQs Horizon construction site
  workforce
• Develop partnerships to provide access to range
  of target groups, based on ongoing assessment of
  needs, interests, and preferences
• - Offerings must offer distance access
• Request that communities contribute access, time,
  expertise, and material support

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What is distance education?

• Same time Different time
• synchronous asynchronous
• Same Place 1 2
• Site-bound
• Different Place 3 4
• Site-independent

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Communities of present LCP interest

• Horizon site (mobile workers)
• Wood Buffalo region (Fort Chipewyan and Fort
  McKay)
• Cold Lake (town and CFB Cold Lake)
• Three Hills
• Wabasca
• Fort St. John, B.C.

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Horizon site facts

• Located 70 Km north of Fort McMurray
• Construction commenced 2001
• Production projected for August 2008
• Will use open pit mining

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Horizon site by the numbers

• Total workers on site 19,948
• Construction contract workers 18,844
• CNQ employees 1,104
• Workers residing in lodges 8, 250
• Daily avg. workers on site 8,353
• (April 30, 2008)

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Challenges for construction industryin Alberta
at Horizon site

• Reliance on a mobile workforce
• Expensive the workforce comes from across
  Canada Deer Lake, NFLD, by example
• Retiring workforce
• Contributes to skill shortages in construction
  industry avg age of construction mobile workers
  in Alberta is over 45 years of age contributes
  to skills shortage, especially experienced
  construction workers
• Need for exceptionally high level of project
  management, especially in oil sands operations
• LCP identified project management as a popular
  learning interest
• Life-work balance difficult to achieve
• Long shifts, physically demanding, work camp
  living (5 work camps), high security, family away
• Alberta Employment and Immigration. (2007). A
  workforce strategy for Albertas construction
  industry.

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LCP activities on site

• Project launches at 5 camps
• Set-up in lobby areas
• Materials on hand, staff available to answer
  questions and take requests for detailed
  information
• Researcher present to record nature of inquiries
  requests
• Speaker series
• Eating for Health
• Life Balance
• MBA Sessions
• The AU MBA program

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Findings Learning preferences expressed

• 36 Business, Finance Management
• MBA
• Project Management
• Business Administration, Accounting, and HR
• 34 Trades Engineering
• Blue Seal
• Health Safety
• Red Seal
• APEGGA courses or exam preparation

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Findings Learning interests expressed

• Others
• Computer applications, including Microsoft Office
• English as a Second Language
• Languages Spanish, Italian, French
• Academic upgrading, or grade 12 equivalency
• General interest fitness, guitar, flight
  training, martial arts

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Responses to inquiries

• Inquiries collected at project launches and
  information booths, or by email, and forwarded to
  AU Advising for a timely response
• Inquiries documented by Research Facilitator
• Inquiries followed up by RF as quality assurance
  measure
• Receive information sought? Any action taken?
  Further questions?

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Issues challenges

• Communication on-site is complicated no common
  link, many work group list serves
• Organizing events time-consuming and complex
  procedures and people constantly changing
• Audience is shift / mobile workers may be
  temporary foreign workers education dedication
  may be low
• Computer/internet access not always available to
  or used by all
• Potential students often not familiar with, or
  actually skeptical about, distance education we
  are investigating this

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Research products to date

• Seven Occasional Reports
• Interim Report 1
• Literature annotations
• Paper submitted to peer reviewed journal
• Post-Secondary Learning Priorities of Workers
  in an Oil Sands Camp in Northern Alberta (In
  review)
• Baseline study
• Programming Available and Requested in Remote
  Areas of Alberta (In progress)

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Next steps

• Continue regular information and speaker sessions
  at the Horizon site
• Population will soon change once into production
• Intensify research into learning interests in
  other identified communities outside the oil
  sands
• Continue Occasional Reports (formative
  evaluation)
• Continue to produce papers for peer-reviewed
  journals (dissemination)
• Continue to evaluate project operations (1 more
  interim report, final report at project end)

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For more information

• Website http//www.athabascau.ca/lc/
• Email asklc_at_athabascau.ca

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Thank you for your interest

• Pat Fahy (patf_at_athabascau.ca)
• 866-514-6234
• Nancy Steel (nancys_at_athabascau.ca)
• 866-569-8051