UBC Reports | Vol. 48 | No. 11 | Sep.
5 , 2002
First class includes students from around the world
By Cate Korinth
Burning the Midnight Oil in the Land of the Midnight Sun
Northern teacher works nights for new online degree. By Cate
Korinth
For Patrick McDermott, attending a class at UBC would mean
a 12-hour flight over 3,100 km of icy wilderness, but thanks
to UBC’s first on-line master’s degree, he can learn how to
enrich the lives of 256 Inook students without ever leaving
town.
McDermott teaches high school social studies and computer
application courses in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, a tiny community
accessible only by plane. Perched on top of Baffin Bay across
from Greenland, it’s the kind of place where glaciers are
visible from town and icebergs float by even in summer.
A friend in Pond told McDermott that UBC’s Faculty of Education
was pioneering a Masters of Educational Technology (MET) program
in partnership with Tec De Monterrey, Mexico.
The program’s courses – all on-line – teach educators how
best to use technology as a teaching tool. The classes explore
ethics, accessibility and diversity issues, and include plenty
of interaction with other students.
McDermott expects the program will help him use technology
to deal with the special needs that arise in a small school
(where class sizes range from three to 45 students and different
grades are often combined) with a largely Inook student population.
"My biggest teaching challenge is finding effective
ways to reach students from a traditional native culture whose
first language is Inuktitut," McDermott says. "Students
are trying to adapt their traditional skills to Western technological
skills and demands. The web, computers and multimedia can
help bridge this gap."
"One of the reasons I enrolled in the MET is to enhance
my abilities and versatility as a teacher. I want to learn
to deliver course material in a way that will enhance student
learning."
He also hopes to foster school policies that will guide his
colleagues in the area, as most do not have a lot of experience
using technology in the classroom.
The on-line courses mean McDermott’s studies will fit neatly
into an already-busy schedule. "Late in the evening after
I put my two-year-old son to bed, I’ll go back to the school
to use the Internet for my UBC classes," he says.
Originally from Nova Scotia, McDermott and his wife, also
a teacher, landed on the tip of Baffin Island six years ago
and haven’t looked back.
"The North is a fantastic place to teach and live. It’s
an adventure, both professionally and personally," he
says.
Cate Korinth is the communications coordinator for the
Faculty of Education.
