Post-Secondary Distance Education in a Contemporary Colonial Context: Experiences of Students in a Rural First Nation in Canada

Post-secondary distance education gives students and their families living in remote and rural regions the option to stay in their communities while they study instead of moving closer to the universities in cities. Post-secondary distance education is an option in many rural and remote First Nation (Indigenous) communities in Canada; however there are many challenges to successful adoption in these communities. There are also many opportunities for post-secondary institutions to expand their abilities and capacity in developing and delivering appropriate content supporting these unique, selfgoverning environments in Canada. We explore the experiences of students from a rural First Nation in Canada with post-secondary distance education, focusing on how different delivery methods offer both opportunities and challenges for communitybased students. The study is situated in the context of contemporary colonialism in Canada.


Introduction
The Political Context of Post-Secondary Distance Education in First Nations Post-secondary distance education gives students and their families living in remote and rural regions the option to stay in their communities while they study instead of moving to the cities where the institutions are based. Families that stay contribute to their community's social and economic capital. Ensuring that appropriate post-secondary distance education is available becomes an important element in the long-term sustainability of remote and rural communities. This research reports on the postsecondary education experiences of students in a rural First Nation and the need for appropriate learning opportunities in the Canadian contemporary colonial environment.
First Nations are politically autonomous Indigenous communities in Canada. With most of the more than 600 First Nations located in rural or remote areas, distance education would seem in theory to offer considerable benefits to community members. The Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the main political organization representing the more than 600 First Nation Chiefs, supports post-secondary education as a priority essential to the sustainable development of First Nations although it has no specific policy on post-secondary distance education (AFN, 2010a).
In 1972, First Nations outlined the requirements for their own education system in their "Indian Control of Indian Education" paper. This document was updated by the AFN to be First Nations Control of First Nation Education (AFN, 2010b). Key requirements for a First Nations education system include First Nations languages, cultures, histories, philosophies, worldviews and values (AFN, 2010b). These objectives ensure that First Nations people will be leading the development and operation of their schools and education programs.
The need for First Nations to control their education systems and processes is rooted in the contemporary colonial relationship between First Nations and the Canadian state.
More than a decade ago, the Canadian government's most extensive Royal Commission of inquiry found that the historical treaties between the Crown and First Nations were replaced with Canadian policies intending to remove Aboriginal people from their homelands, suppress Aboriginal nations and their governments, undermine Aboriginal cultures, and stifle Aboriginal identity (Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996).
Government policies continue to have an explicit goal to remove First Nations from remote and rural regions so that the lands and resources can be exploited for commercial industries such as mining and forestry (Alfred, 2009;Coulthard, 2007;Palmater, 2011).
In this context, distance education can mitigate the destructive effects of government Vol 15 | No 1 Feb/14 3 policies designed to remove remote and rural First Nations people from their lands.
Distance education using broadband networks allows First Nations to assert their sovereignty over their lands and resources and develop their communities with residents staying local (Beaton & Campbell, in press). Post-secondary distance education has also been characterized as an opportunity to "decolonize cyberspace" (McAuley & Walton, 2011). McMullen and Rohrbach (2003) have identified "politics" as a primary barrier to distance education in remote First Nations. The political barriers include government underfunding of First Nations education and miring education programs in unnecessary bureaucracy. Within the university institutions, politics also plays a role in how educational programs are shaped to meet the needs of the instructors rather than the learners.
A second key barrier to distance education in remote First Nations is access to appropriate technology and delivery models (McMullen & Rohrbach, 2003). By researching the needs of the students in First Nation communities and "adapting curriculum and technology to meet those needs, it is possible to correctly incorporate the appropriate technology" (McMullen & Rohrbach, 2003, p. 61). However the political context just mentioned -including underfunding educational programs and designing programs to meet the needs of the institutions rather than the students -can present considerable constraints to successful distance education programs in remote and rural First Nations.

Distance Education in Elsipogtog First Nation
The current study explores how these issues play out in a rural First Nation in Canada.
The Canadian provinces bordering the Atlantic Ocean are among the most rural regions of the country. Almost 50% of the residents of one of these provinces, New Brunswick, live in small rural communities (Statistics Canada, 2006

Research on First Nation Students and Post-Secondary Distance Education
Given that many First Nations are located in remote and rural areas of the country, distance education at post-secondary level is currently a hot topic for educators and their institutions wanting to understand how to best deliver courses and successfully engage students living in these communities. A comprehensive literature review In their review of distance education programs across the country, McMullen and Rohrbach (2003) found several innovative initiatives delivering high school and postsecondary education programs by distance delivery that have achieved dramatic success. However, few education institutions and education directors know of these successful models and few have been able to learn from these experiences. The best practices presented in their book are based on successfully developed and delivered distance education courses. These practices include the involvement of on-site tutors, flexible delivery models, and the need to develop personal relationships between the students and instructors.
A study conducted by Davis (2000)  Nation community members who are taking distance education courses. The CCL report also highlights the importance of informal learning opportunities and learning styles that allow First Nation community members to share information and learn as a collective.
Much of the research on post-secondary distance education in Aboriginal communities highlights the need for it as well as the benefits (Ambler, 1999;Archibald, Hampton, & Newton, 1995;Benham & Stein, 2003;Carter & Rukholm, 2009;Davis, 2000;Deer & Hakansson, 2005;Downing, 2002;Epstein, 1995;Facey, 2001;Fahy, Steel, & Martin, 2009;Faith & Sturrock, 1990;Freeman & Morore, 2007;Ives & Aitken, 2008;Keast, 1997Keast, , 1995McMullen & Rorhbach, 2003;Rice-Green & Dumbrill, 2005;Robinson, 1992;Russell, Gregory, Hultin, Care, & Courtenay, 2005;Sanchez, Stucky, & Richard, 1998;Sharpe, 1992;Sisco, 2010;Spronk, 1995;Spronk & Radtke, 1988;Stonechild, 2006;Voyageur, 2001;Zapf & Bastien, 2000). The primary benefit is obvious: Studying in the same community where you live with your families and work has many advantages over leaving the community to study elsewhere. The option to leave their programs. They also found challenges such as a loss of personal interaction with instructors, leading to diminished respect for the instructor, learners perceiving they were A comprehensive study that included 165 residents of four northern remote communities in Alberta included the participants' self-reported learning experiences and preferences, including their views of available delivery formats (Fahy, Steele, & Martin, 2009). The authors concluded that the delivery of distance education to adult learners needs to respect the needs and preferences of the learners rather than asking them to make the most adjustments to the delivery methods, and that the delivery of distance learning needs to be compatible with their personal, family, and work-related realities (Fahy, Steele, & Martin). Students taking post-secondary distance courses benefit from local support, primarily support from family members (Steele & Fahy, 2011).
There has been limited community-based research conducted in First Nation communities to understand their members' experiences and course delivery preferences. In one of the few studies found of this kind, Johnston (2001), in an unpublished master's thesis, examined the experiences of Aboriginal women completing a full-time college program by computer-based distance learning. The analysis concluded that for these women to be successful in their distance education courses, education must not only be community-based, flexible, and holistic but also foster and nurture relationships between and among students and instructors. Teachers of successful students are themselves respectful of Aboriginal values and work to create interpersonal connectedness using the technology to bridge the geographical distances.
The current study of Elsipogtog First Nation community members explores their experiences of and perspectives on various distance education options such as videoconferencing and web-based systems. This exploratory article is based on an analysis of interviews with Elsipogtog First Nation community members. We plan to expand on this study in future papers to consider more issues raised by First Nation community members related to their experiences with distance education.

Experiences with Course Delivery via Web-Based Online Systems
The four universities in the Atlantic region that offer courses to the study participants use several web-based online systems for distance education. The most common one mentioned by Elsipogtog First Nation students is WebEx, a technology allowing live video and visual exchange via a computer and audio exchange (voice) using a computer or phone connection. Everyone connected to a session sees the same thing on the screen while someone is talking. Anyone who wants to appear visually to others will require a webcam connected to their computer. Community members also mentioned using Others explained that they were able to participate in peer working groups by meeting in a computer lab designated for distance education set up in a community resource centre. In this lab students are able to utilize SMART board technology (an electronic blackboard) along with WebEx to create a classroom environment where they are able to work with and support one another with specific courses.
WebEx can be difficult to use by students with few computer skills and little or no computer training. For those who struggle with using computer technology because of their inexperience with it, taking courses in this way can be extremely challenging. This set-up allows students and professors to participate in face-to-face visual and audio contact. In most situations, the videoconferencing system is connecting a university with one or more First Nations communities. In each community students are together in a classroom and the professor is located at a distant university or at a First Nation location from where the professor is delivering the course content. Typically the visual connection is through a television and camera set up at the front of the classroom in all the community classrooms and the one university classroom. One or more microphones in each site allows for audio exchange among the students in different classrooms and the professor.
These room-based videoconferencing systems require technical support to monitor the bridge -the unit that connects the different sites with each other. Technical support is also required to be on-call at each site in case of connectivity or troubleshooting problems. However the systems themselves are generally easy to use by someone with minimal training.
Students who self-identified as 'visual learners,' requiring more interaction with professors and classmates, preferred videoconferencing over web-based learning.
Videoconferencing also allows students to be engaged via live video and audio with students from multiple communities, thereby creating a good networking and support system.
Students' perceptions of and experiences of videoconferencing were mixed. Some liked it and some did not, as illustrated by the following quotes.
To me we were closer in videoconferencing so more of The set-up for videoconferencing also has its difficulties if there is a lack of technical support to facilitate the interaction. Some students shared that their experiences with videoconferencing were sometimes unpleasant and annoying due to delays. One community member noted "it depends on your Internet signal. If it's not good, then you're going to get a lot of pauses in between or the professor will sound different" (Elsipogtog First Nation Community Member).

Input to Course Delivery Methods and Perceptions of Control of the Process
None of the students believed they or other community members had any input into the way the courses were delivered or had any control over the process of post-secondary distance education. One student said: Indeed, at the time the study was being conducted, the community was preparing to install its own fibre optic network. Significant improvements in connectivity afforded by fibre networks will no doubt improve the quality of the videoconferencing in Elsipogtog First Nation and may influence distance learning preferences in future.
As suggested earlier from previous research by Fahy , Steele, and Martin (2009), a conclusion of the current study is that the delivery of distance education needs to respect the preferences of adult learners rather than asking them to make the most adjustment to the delivery methods.
Similarly, Deer and Hakansson (2005)  Our study findings suggest the possibility of an unreached pool of potential students in the community who may be more interested to participate in post-secondary distance education if more technology choices were offered. In particular, it would be worth exploring if a blended model of online web-based courses and videoconferencing could be tailored to meet their needs. It is important to recognize the unique circumstances of every student using these resources and understand that what works for one may not work for another. Developing course delivery models using a blend of different technologies to create a more positive learning experience for Elsipogtog First Nation community members will require additional funding and planning.
In future, Elsipogtog First Nation could work with the universities to explore possibilities for courses that blend not only web-based and videoconferencing technologies but also distance education with in-community options. It is entirely possible, for example, for a university instructor to travel to different First Nations in the Atlantic region and provide the instruction using both distance and in-person classroom education at different times during the academic year. This has even been tried in a limited way in the past.
Clearly there is significant room for the Elsipogtog First Nation community to take a more active role in determining how the university courses are offered by distance to their community members, including strategies to ensure that the different learning preferences and styles of the students are accommodated. Taking control of their own post-secondary learning opportunities, establishing partnerships with interested postsecondary institutions, and providing the required learning environments and student support systems are examples of successful distance learning models adopted in other First Nations. Each of these steps requires access to financial resources, people, and facilities that support local economic development. These local efforts help to move both the community and its partner institutions beyond the traditional colonial relationship and support local and regional development in a province that requires new innovative strategies to address its rural challenges.
Our study suggests that more support for and attention to the students' preferences for learning styles will lead to more successful distance education programs in these communities. This suggestion aligns with the concept of "First Nations Control of First Nations Education" advocated by the Assembly of First Nations. It also suggests that more appropriate post-secondary distance education options will allow more families to remain in remote and rural First Nations while they study instead of moving to the cities, contributing to the long-term sustainability of their communities.