It is very interesting and enlightening to read all of the responses. It's really too bad that we don't get more opportunity to do this with our college sector colleagues, whether virtually or in person.

Although only 17 participants (from 8 colleges) ultimately took part in the pilot, the amount of participation exceeded expectations. In total, 117 messages were posted during the two weeks the discussion was active. The discussion comprised nearly 70 pages of single-spaced script. Of the 117 messages, more than two thirds or 79 messages were posted by participants. Several participants commented that they found the discussion interesting and enjoyable.

Although there was ample discussion, participation was uneven. Some participants posted as many as 8 or 9 messages while others posted only 1 or 2. The average number of postings per participant was 4.6.

As mentioned in the previous section, the questions posed for each chapter of the report were used to guide the discussion. Following are brief summaries of the three chapters that were discussed. They have been included for two purposes:

  1. to provide context for understanding the evaluation results of the pilot, and
  2. to highlight some of the challenges and the achievements of practitioners who deliver mostly individualized forms of instruction

The summaries alone were not able to capture the scope or flavour of the discussion. Excerpts from participants’ conversations and exchanges therefore are used liberally throughout this section of the report.