Fonds F-172 - TeleLearning Network Inc. fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

TeleLearning Network Inc. fonds

General material designation

  • Sound recordings
  • Photographic materials
  • Artefacts
  • Textual records

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  • Source of title proper: Title of the fonds is based on the name of its creator.

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

F-172

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Edition statement of responsibility

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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1994 - 2002 (Creation)
    Creator
    TeleLearning Network Inc.

Physical description area

Physical description

2.88 m of textual records and other material

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(1995 - 2002)

Administrative history

The TeleLearning Network of Centres of Excellence (TL-NCE) was established in 1995 when the federal government's Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program awarded a grant to create a network of researchers from Canadian universities, focusing on the development and application of networked technologies in education and training. TeleLearning established a management office to administer its affairs, and on April 7 1997 the office incorporated under the Corporations Act as TeleLearning Network Inc. (TN Inc.), a not-for-profit corporation. Ostensibly two separate bodies, each with its own Board of Directors, in practice TL-NCE and TN Inc. were not distinct: Board members were identical for both and the same Board session dealt with the affairs of both. TL-NCE was the "research face" and TN Inc. the "legal-administrative face" of the same organization. TeleLearning's renewal application in 2001 for a second round of NCE funding was unsuccessful. The decision was made to close out the Network, and on September 30, 2002 the corporation was officially dissolved.

TeleLearning's mandate was to research, develop and demonstrate effective knowledge-building pedagogies, implemented through telelearning; to support the development of a knowledge economy and learning society in Canada; and to transfer the resulting knowledge into Canadian organizations, institutions of learning and Canadian companies for worldwide exploitation. Its main functions were to organize further research and distribute funding to individual projects through seven distinct research themes; publicize research results through publications, reports, and conferences; promote cooperation among private, public and university sectors; and encourage the development of commercial applications and technologies through the formation of spin-off companies.

TeleLearning was primarily funded by the federal government through the NCE programs of the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and Industry Canada. Additional funding was obtained through TeleLearning membership fees from participating public and private-sector organizations, including international affiliates. The chief officers of the Network were the Network Leader, Network Co-Leader, and the Executive Director. The Board of Directors was responsible for the overall management and direction of the Network, with certain powers delegated to an appointed Executive Committee. Other committees advised the Board, including the Program Committee and the Knowledge and Technology Transfer Committee. Relations between the Network and member organizations was regulated by the Network Internal Agreement.

TeleLearning's management office operated out of Simon Fraser University, which served as the Network's host institution. The main functions of the management office were disbursement of funds, NCE reporting, communications, member liaison, assistance with funding proposals, and conference organization. As host institution, SFU provided TeleLearning with office space, facilities, and some administrative services (e.g. payroll and finances).

The TeleLearning Network was originally built around four "beacon technologies": Collaboration Architecture and Design Resources for Telelearning (CadreTel), Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environment (CSILE), Teleform, and Virtual-University (Virtual-U). Over 240 public- and private-sector organizations participated in its projects, including over 130 faculty from 30 Canadian universities. The Network supported the growth of the online learning industry with the development of more than 45 software prototypes. Its spin-off companies included TELEStraining Inc., ClearMed Medical Knowledge Inc., Math Resources Inc., Nomino Inc., InVentures Incubator Inc., Cogigraph, the Portal for Online Objects in Learning (POOL), and TeleLearning Solutions Inc.

Custodial history

TeleLearning's management office located at Simon Fraser University continuously maintained custody of the records and transferred the material directly to the Archives following the dissolution of the Network in the fall of 2002.

Scope and content

The fonds consists of records made or received by the TeleLearning Network's management office in the course of administering the Network's affairs.

Activities documented include Annual General Meetings and meetings of the Board of Directors and TeleLearning committees, Network financial administration and budgeting, communications, media relations and web presence, the holding of annual TeleLearning Conferences, NCE reporting, management of research projects, and promotion of TeleLearning spin-off companies.

Records include meeting agendas, minutes and supporting papers; NCE application submissions and working papers; reports, including Annual Reports, NCE statistical reports and the final NCE report; letters patent of incorporation, Network internal agreements, memoranda of agreement, by-laws, policies and procedures; correspondence, notes, and working papers; budgets, financial statements, audit reports, tax returns, year-end documents and planning documents; conference programs, audio tapes of conference presentations, conference promotional material and artifacts; TeleLearning software products on CD ROM, and TeleLearning's web site (burned onto a CD in September 2002); communications plan, press releases and press clippings.

Record media include paper, electronic (spreadsheets, word-processing documents, graphics formats, and html files), optical disks, audio tapes, photographs, graphics and artifacts.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

The Archives acquired the records directly from the TeleLearning management office in 2002.

Arrangement

Arrangement is based on the filing system of the TeleLearning management office.

Language of material

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

Some files may contain personal or confidential information. Access to these files may be restricted as stipulated by Archives policy or the donor. Files marked "pending review" must be reviewed by an archivist prior to release and, as a result of the review, access restrictions may apply. Please see the file lists and consult the archivist for more details.

Access to the sound recordings in series 5 is restricted for preservation reasons due to the fragility of the storage medium (audio cassette tape). The Archives will provide access only through digitizaiton of the originals. As of October 2012 no recordings have been digitized. Consult the reference archivist for more information about access these recordings.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Finding aids

File and item lists are available.

Finding aid

Associated materials

This fonds contains only the records created by the TeleLearning management office. Associated records may be held by other institutions (e.g. partner universities) and by participating researchers themselves.

Related materials

Accruals

All accessions have been processed as of February 2003. No further accruals are expected.

General note

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Fonds includes 1783.9 mb. of multiple media records (electronic), 116 audio cassettes, 135 negatives, 16 contact sheets, 73 digital photographs (.jpg, .gif, .pct formats), 26 photographic transparencies, 16 photographic prints, 5 slides, 3 plaques, 1 sculpture, and 1 scrapbook.

GENERAL NOTE
Photographic material is located mainly in sub-series 4-6, with some additonal photos in sub-series 4-1. Sound recordings are found in series 5, artefacts in series 5 and sub-series 4-6. Electronic records are distributed across most series.

General note

Financial assistance for the arrangement and description of the records and production of the finding aid was generously provided by the TeleLearning Network Inc., and the Office of the Vice-President President Research (Simon Fraser University).

Alternative identifier(s)

Wikidata identifier

Q106643134

Wikidata URL

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106643134

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Status

Revised

Level of detail

Full

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Finding aid prepared by Enid Britt, Richard Dancy, Verna Kazakoff (February 2003); revised by Richard Dancy (May 2004); updated by Richard Dancy (March 2006); item numbers re-assigned, series 5 broken into sub-series, minor revisions to series descriptions (October 2012).

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