By Tony Bates. This unique institution has evolved into Canada’s only aboriginal, university-level institution. It underwent a near death experience in 2009, but with a new President and Board, new funding arrangements, and a new partnership with the University of Regina, it has now almost fully recovered. It has 750 full time students and a balanced budget. In addition, 4,700 students, mainly from the University of Regina, take courses at FNUC. More...

By Tony Bates. Yesterday was Canada Day, and I am very proud to be Canadian. But Canada as a country has made an awful mess of its relationship with its aboriginal peoples, as the recent devastating report by the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission has made abundantly clear. The big question is where Canada goes from here, not just in making restitution for past mistreatment, but more importantly in ensuring that aboriginal people can develop in ways that benefit both them and the country as a whole. More...

By Tony Bates. I’m not sure the world needs another LMS (sorry, an ‘online learning platform’) but this one, called iQualify and built from scratch by New Zealand’s major distance learning organization, has a number of features that advance LMSs to the next level. More...

By Tony Bates. It’s not just the Greeks who are having problems financially, even though they are getting all the headlines. In earlier posts I commented on Athabasca University’s so-called impending ‘insolvency’, as the president put it. As with all crises, the actual ‘end’ is never certain until it happens, so perhaps there’s still time for the Alberta government and Athabasca University to learn from history. More...

By Tony Bates. Most Moodlers will already be aware of this, but if you are not aware of, or are just moving to Moodle, or even just thinking about it (it is after all open source and free), this conference is a must. More...