When the University of Regina’s Paul J. Hill School of Business and the Kenneth Levene Graduate School of Business were awarded a $9.3 million federal grant for the development of a Canada-wide program, it was cause for excitement. It also precipitated an immediate and ambitious collaboration between the Faculty of Business Administration and CCE’s Flexible Learning Division.
“The overall task was to assist with developing and delivering Imagineur, the Canadian Program in Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship,” says Willadell Garreck, Division Head, Flexible Learning. “Together we began the process of creating a free, online program that would be available to all Canadians who want to improve their skill to better meet the demands of Canadian employers or create their own employment opportunities.”
“While the subject matter was developed at the business faculty, the project was a massive undertaking for CCE,” says Christie Schultz, Dean, Centre for Continuing Education. “One of the things the University has recognized is that CCE has fantastic expertise in instructional design, graphics and multi-media as well as instructional technologies. We were involved in the pieces of the project that required these elements, including the design, development and implementation of the registration system and the technology that enables the delivery of the course content.”
“Our instructional design team focuses on high quality learning design and development to ensure that the student experience is truly exceptional.” - Willadell Garreck
Indeed, the coordination of a project of this scale required the instructional design team to flex the full breadth of their skills. “Our designers are experts in pedagogies and course content design but they are also well-versed in project management and people skills,” notes Garreck. “All of those skills and more have been required to complete a project of this scale in a short time frame.”
Aimed at high school and post-secondary students, the program consists of eight online modules designed to develop a range of entrepreneurial skills and abilities focusing on creativity, innovative problem solving, new business idea generation and business model development. Unique to this program are modules focused on women entrepreneurs and Indigenous entrepreneurship. “Our instructional design team focuses on high quality learning design and development to ensure that the student experience is truly exceptional,” says Garreck. “This expertise is something we have honed and developed within our team and we are keen to share it through individual U of R course development and also through projects like this.”
The value of that expertise was also appreciated by the Faculty of Business Administration which was responsible for the overall coordination of the initiative. “Collaborating with CCE’s instructional design team has been essential to the project,” says Saqib Khan, Interim Dean, Faculty of Business Administration. “They helped enrich the delivery of content created by our subject area experts. The team is an incredible asset within the University.”
“Leveraging the expertise within the University for the benefit of projects such as this is a role that CCE has played many times,” says Schultz. “We believe that all learning experiences can benefit from the support of instructional design and we’re proud to bring that resource to the University.”