Brock University’s Adult Education program was featured as part of “Pockets of Innovation” online showcase launched recently by Contact North, Ontario’s distance education and training network.

The Pockets of Innovation website was designed to celebrate innovation in online and mobile learning at Ontario colleges and universities. Brock’s Adult Education degree and certificate programs were among the initial 28 profiles posted online.

The series features work taking place in colleges and universities across Ontario in technology applications, course development, student support services, marking, exams and many other aspects of online and mobile learning. Contact North anticipates having more than 50 projects featured in the series by the end of the year.

Brock’s Adult Education students have the option of taking courses online or through classrooms, learning with courses offered in as many as 20 communities in Ontario. The program attracts many professionals who are involved in adult education training and teaching and who wish to enhance their knowledge and practice through part-time studies.

The Contact North article focuses on the online facilitator environment of the Brock program, describing it as “an indispensable innovation that serves as a learning network for a community of practice, which is essential to the unique curricular structure of the adult education programs.”

The online facilitator environment has been key to the success of the program over the past 20 years, said Camille Rutherford, interim director of Brock’s Centre for Adult Education and Community Outreach in the Faculty of Education. The courses are facilitated by educators who have advanced graduate degrees and who offer extensive workplace experience to meet the needs and interests of students.

“Being part of the Pockets of Innovation showcase is great recognition for our success in online education,” Rutherford said. “We hope others will look to us as a model of an online learning environment that provides an enriched experience for faculty, facilitators and students.”

Contact North works in partnership with Ontario’s 24 public colleges, 20 public universities and more than 250 public essential skills and training providers to increase and improve online and distance learning opportunities for Ontarians.