2004
Education

Created in 2000, the Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation (CDLI) delivers e-learning programs and services to schools throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Through innovative curriculum and tutoring materials the centre permits students in the smallest schools and remotest areas to access programs and services previously available only in larger centres.

The primary mandate of the centre is the development and delivery of online services and courses for senior and high school students. Other provinces have developed online programs but CDLI’s unique model is capturing the interest of education departments across the country.

Given the arduous task of not only creating the centre, but involving numerous people, organizations and schools necessary for success, the ability of this group to deliver on the majority of its mandate is phenomenal. This centre has created a model of shared ownership with school boards and has positioned itself as an extension of the school districts’ infrastructure.

In addition, the centre, in partnership with the Department of Education’s Evaluation and Research Division, has created multimedia learning objects to assist with student review of course material for public examination courses. The Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training has requested the centre lead the construction of similar objects for the senior math curriculum for all Atlantic Provinces.

The list of accomplishments for this centre is remarkable with 95 distance education sites across the province. All in all, CDLI has positively impacted the quality of school life throughout the province and has become known according to one school principal as the “fundamental cornerstone to the delivery of high school programming in small schools…”