DTOP

DTI Outreach Program (DTOP) a distance education initiative
DTI has, as part of its overall mission, the focus to promote the renewal and development of Metis culture through the delivery of educational programs and services. DTI is the adult upgrading and skills training entity of GDI (The Gabriel Dumont Institute). Established in 1992, DTI provides quality education, training opportunities, and services to Saskatchewan Metis. DTI’s philosophy has been that “Learners Come First”.
DTOP is an outreach program designed to provide distance education opportunities to non-urban Metis living outside of the Regina area and for those students interested in accessing an educational program in another urban center. DTOP will provide DTI with the technological structure to setup and maintain a distance education classroom.
DTI Regina Campus currently fulfills this mission through the delivery of educational training in the traditional format of a classroom setting. This proposal seeks to build on this dynamic, as well as broaden the target market for DTI. This can be achieved through the use of technological resources to provide content and guided practice in a way that provides direct access for learning by both students and teachers.
DTI can make use of online technology to facilitate the offering of blended online access with a unique collection of education resources available at DTI. DTOP will add a unique educational access to the current teaching, learning, and facilitating including the use real world video, PowerPoint presentations, the spoken word, whiteboard presentations, written media (such as detailed handout notes) and audio clips. All DTI programs include an embedded practice to include the Metis culture.
There is an identifiable need to broaden the audience for this existing work in the training programs such as the Office Education Certificate program and the GED program. DTOP would provide opportunities for students beyond the Regina area that can include most of Southern.
The demand for the educational services provided by DTI is clearly undergoing an observable trend for growth. This fact is support by Statistics Canada in its “Aboriginal Statistics at a Glance” which is a summary of data collected during the 2006 Census (published June 2010, ISBN 978-1-100-16028-3). In the survey the proportion of the overall aboriginal population that are identified as Metis has grown to a level of 33.2% in size and scope. Metis peoples, as a group, are experiencing the largest rate of population growth, which is identified to be 91% growth (as compared to the overall population of aboriginals that experienced growth of 45%). Other key highlights noted in the report were:
• 16% of Metis achieve a trade certificate level of education
• 22% of Metis achieve a college certificate level of education
Clearly DTI’s mandate to provide college certificate training is a key driver for DTI to develop an outreach program that has the objective to meet the demand for education for Metis students in Southern Saskatchewan.
Equipment needed:
$800 – Digital Video Camera
$200 – Wireless Label Microphone System
$1,000 – for Elmo Projector, Model HV-7000
$1,000 – Hauppauge HD PVR Personal Video Recorder 1212 HDPVR
$1,000 – DELL LATITUDE E6320 LAPTOP (2.5Ghz, DVD-R/W, WiFi, 250GB Quad Core i5, equipped with 4 Gig Memory, 250 Gig Hard Drive, Win7 and Office 2010)
Other components needed ($1000): Speaker phone, Mobile Cart and Tripod to house camera, cabling, etc.
Once the technological infrastructure is in place, the outreach could be endless for Metis people in Saskatchewan.