Emily Schudel, Camosun College

The Education and Career Planning (EDCP) program at Camosun College is a seven-week tuition free program, supporting learners to explore and design their education and career pathway. EDCP is designed for learners looking to “develop a realistic awareness of their interests, abilities and potential, and increase their self confidence. Learners learn about work-search strategies and current labour-market trends, and are invited to set personal, career, and educational goals.” (https://camosun.ca/programs-courses/find-program/education-career-planning-certificate)

Before 2020, this 40-year-old program (originally called Building Employment Success for Tomorrow (BEST)) was run completely in-person, requiring students to come to the college to attend classes. In 2019 the program entered a review process, but as the program team began to work with the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning’s (CETL) Curriculum Development and Program Renewal (CDPR) team, they began to consider a myriad of delivery possibilities. To find out what was possible, they brought in an instructional designer from eLearning to facilitate conversation around what it would mean to move the program online. (You can read more about the history of EDCP and the ideology behind the program, complete with learner accolades, in the 2023 Camosun Showcase publication.)

I interviewed the CETL EDCP review team in 2022 (Deidre from CDPR, and Monique from eLearning) and include here some of their story, in addition to reflections from the EDCP team (Diane, Val, and Allyson.) The overarching purpose of the review was to ensure that the program would continue to meet learners where they are at, which led to those discussions around how best to offer the program. Deidre and Monique recalled that the impetus for taking the EDCP program online came from a desire to reach more people. “The conversation sparked out of a desire to drive up enrollment – could it be offered in a different delivery format that would encourage people who were working, etc. They were looking at ways to reach more people because it’s the only program of its type.”

Of course, moving a program online can be met with trepidation. “There was real fear about going online because the program is community-based and takes a very personalized approach, including one-on-one coaching.” But the EDCP faculty team was curious and keen to explore what opportunities online might bring. As the program review started, “we started to develop online components, not necessarily for full online delivery, but more of a gentle start helping them to become receptive to a hybrid approach.” But then, March 2020 hit and any options involving in-person instruction flew out the window.

Because the EDCP group had begun to develop online materials, using a vetted open resource available through BCcampus, (EDCP: Career Planning Course Package | BCcampus) content wasn’t much of an issue, although the design of the BCcampus package was. “Each individual module of the package was considered its own course, so we had to rebuild them into one whole,” an overwhelming task within the sudden pivot to online, but the team jumped in and started working. “We merged the courses and worked on a course map to guide students through the online materials. Then because it’s such a short program, we surveyed students every Friday about their experiences, and every week throughout the pandemic we met and tweaked the program.” By summer of 2020, EDCP had settled into its new online mode, and students were embracing the online instruction.

Monique and Deidre spoke highly of the way EDCP team worked together throughout the redevelopment process. “They divided and conquered and were open with each other, always giving constructive feedback. It was nice because Allyson is very technical, so she understood the need for a structure and version control, while Diane really grabs onto the vision of the program, and Val is the cheerleader.” But a team needs encouragement from above as well, and one of the things that made the revision of EDCP a success was the support from EDCP program’s Dean and Associate Dean. “All the right people were involved from the beginning of the process – the EDCP team, CDPR and eLearning, with leadership behind them all the way.”

So now, we have a tuition-free, seven-week program using open educational resources, and taught entirely online. But Deidre reminded

me that “they’re not teaching a subject; they’re teaching people confidence building and self-belief. They’re teaching about growth mindset and all those intangible things like self-leadership. I think it’s amazing that that they’re able to build this community online in a safe place for people to share and grow.” In addition, Monique adds that the EDCP team “worked to Indigenize the curriculum as they went. Because the Indigenous ways of learning are how you build community, representing the core values of the program which is about developing from the inside out and building community where everyone has a story and grows at their own pace.”

Monique and Deidre reflect that the biggest reason EDCP was challenging to put online was this emphasis on building community along with the personalised development piece, the pieces that make this a transformational and life-changing program for students. But by taking a risk, EDCP has opened its doors to many more students than it could have reached by remaining a solely in-person program. Their dedication to the program’s underlying principles, to trusting in others to guide them into the online environment, as well as working with students to get feedback on what was working and what wasn’t as they trialed the online course, has created a solid foundation for success. Today, according to the EDCP team in their Showcase story, the program “provides greater access to learners who are:

• needing a career pivot, but still working
• living in different geographical locations
• working to cover living expenses and who want to explore more meaningful options
• caring for children, siblings, and elders
• newly arrived to Canada
• taken post-secondary programs but find themselves in the wrong program/direction
• feeling stuck or isolated
• living with mental and/or physical health issues like social anxiety or a workplace injury
• recovering from substance use”

Because the course is online but blended in the sense that there are synchronous online sessions with asynchronous learning between those sessions, learners have flexibility to fit education into their schedules which makes the program more accessible. The EDCP team were, however, surprised by some of the benefits resulting from this new model:

• near 100% attendance in the synchronous class time because learners:
• save commuting time and expense
• are able to be home with pets, which strengthens safety and belonging and provides comic relief
• can attend when their child is sick and at home from school or daycare
• neurodiversity is celebrated and supported
• can attend even if they are feeling a little unwell
• enjoy the cohort and instructional team support
• have attended when travelling for work, conferences or family responsibilities
• near 100% completion of the information interviewing assignment – a challenging research assignment that requires learners to interview education leaders or career professionals in their areas of curiosity.
• the virtual meeting option is more accessible and less stressful for learners.
• greater choice of guest speakers due to ease of online classroom access from different geographical locations
• reduction of the environmental footprint – no commute and paperless”

The redesign of EDCP from the in-person delivery model many people thought was imperative for its success, to an online model some thought would create barriers for learners has instead created a more inclusive program, providing more options to support them to move forward in their lives, creating community in the process – but only because of the dedication and teamwork of the EDCP team and their CETL partners. Moving a course or program online can be done successfully if you hold close both your purpose and the learners you are trying to serve. I will end with one more quote from the EDCP team from Showcase to bring home the central purpose of the program. “It has taken a village to transform a more than 40-year-old classroom program into a flexible online format to meet learners’ educational needs within the complex demands of their lives. We continue to work on curriculum like cultural humility to strengthen student leadership in our community and to equip learners for the future. It is an ongoing privilege to facilitate belonging and relationships in the classroom, the college, and the community. What an adventure.”

Additional stories related to the EDCP team:

• Camosun Story #22: Val
• Camosun Story #38: Diane G
• Camosun Story #55: Allyson