Centre for Distance Education

The Centre for Distance Education

The Centre's core faculty consists of 11 academics and researchers, including a Canada Research Chair and a number of other internationally recognized scholars in the field of distance education. The Centre is also home to the Canadian Institute of Distance Education Research (CIDER), which publishes the online journal, The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL).

All Centre for Distance Education programs offer a number of benefits:

• Personal, individualized support
• Leading-edge technology
• Constructivist learning approaches
• Excellence in distance education methods
• Opportunities for collaborative research, and
• Opportunities for community-building and networking

Athabasca University (AU), Canada's Open University, is the nation's leading distance-education and online university. We are proud to take education to the people, serving more than 37,000 students in 87 countries world-wide.

Why Study Distance Education?

Distance education and training are rapidly expanding fields and indicators point to their continued and steady growth well into the future.

Today, distance education and training students of all ages are provided with the opportunity to learn in a wide variety of subject areas, formats, and organizations. If distance educators are to adapt to the increasingly sophisticated field of distance education and to maintain their professional competence, continuous upgrading is essential. Professional growth is also required by people from a variety of educational and occupational backgrounds who seek entry into this burgeoning field.

Accreditation

AU is a publicly funded institution of the Province of Alberta and reports to the government through the Minister of Advanced Education. Through the Post-secondary Learning Act, the government authorizes Athabasca University Governing Council to grant degrees and govern our own affairs. Members of Athabasca University Governing Council are appointed under orders in council of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.

Athabasca University is the first Canadian university to be awarded accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). More details about accreditation in the U.S.A. are available.

More information about Accreditation may be found on the main AU website.

Last updated by MK March 20, 2012