Prince Albert Campus Delivers Program in the North
Faculty in Prince Albert are now teaching students at our northern sites using the technology that has historically only connected northern students to faculty in Saskatoon.
Innovative technology gave the College of Nursing the opportunity to expand its’ Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program to northern Saskatchewan in 2012.
Through the use of Remote Presence technology and other distance learning tools, such as video conferencing and the Tophat platform, students living in La Ronge and Ile-a-la-Crosse are able to take the complete BSN program without having to leave home.
When the northern students first started their program in September 2012, the technology connected them to faculty located in Saskatoon. This changed this past September, when faculty in Prince Albert began using the same technology to deliver courses to students in La Ronge and Ile-a-la-Crosse, meaning northern students now have the opportunity to learn from a larger pool of faculty.
“Learning to teach distributively takes effort because I had to learn how to use the technology to make sure all the students could see and hear each other,” said Prince Albert based Assistant Professor Anthony de Padua. “Once I got used to teaching in this new way, it has been really good. The IT support has been excellent and instead of worrying about the technology, I can concentrate on my teaching.”
Assistant Professor Tania Kristoff, also located in Prince Albert, has been teaching the northern students this past term. “Teaching a class to students in Prince Albert, La Ronge and Ile-a-la-Crosse at the same time has been great! It is really nice to integrate the different perspectives and experiences of the various students in one class.” de Padua couldn’t agree more and says, “I really enjoy hearing the northern students’ perspectives. I appreciate their level of dedication to the program and the different viewpoints they share from living in the north. I especially appreciate them sharing with the other students the challenges of having non-northern nurses work in their communities and how they may not necessarily understand the realities of life in the north.”
Although technology is great, it can sometimes be difficult to engage students at a distance. “Distributive teaching has challenged me and given me the opportunity to incorporate new teaching strategies to foster engagement with the northern students,” said Kristoff. “Without the partnership between the College of Nursing and Northlands College, I feel it would be very difficult to teach and learn this way. The faculty and staff at Northlands in both La Ronge and Ile-a-la-Crosse, provide support and resources to the students and myself. They are accessible and offer numerous reinforcements to ensure the students are receiving opportunities to attain their nursing education. This partnership is key to the student's success.”
Because Prince Albert is located closer to La Ronge, in relation to Saskatoon, faculty also have the ability to travel to La Ronge and back in one day and meet with students face-to-face. Both Tania and Anthony have travelled to La Ronge during the term to meet their students. “I really enjoyed meeting the La Ronge students in person and to be able to answer their questions and chat in between breaks - more informal learning,” said Tania.
Delivering the BSN program from Prince Albert has not only been a change for faculty, it’s also new for students, as they now “share” their classroom. Mia Scrivener, 2nd year nursing student in Prince Albert, had this to say about bringing together students in La Ronge, Ile-a-la-Crosse and Prince Albert. “Everyone gets along really well. In my opinion, the use of videoconferencing has brought our classes closer. We get the opportunity to communicate back and forth and the professors here in Prince Albert encourage all of the students, no matter where they are located, to participate so nobody is left out. Believe it or not, the videoconference classes offered from the Prince Albert Campus are more interactive than a “typical” class! The use of videoconferencing has given the opportunity for more people to access the BSN program and I believe everyone should have an equal opportunity to better themselves in a way that doesn't force them to put their life on hold.”
“Although, sometimes technology can make taking our classes in La Ronge a bit difficult, I am very grateful for the opportunity to take degree nursing from my home community,” said 2nd year BSN student Susan Moosewaypayo. “I find it amazing that in our labs we have a robot to help with instruction!”
Over the course of the 2016-2017 academic year, there are seven Prince Albert based faculty teaching nine courses distributively to students in La Ronge and Ile-a-la-Crosse.