Contact North/Contact Nord is a non-profit organization that has operated since 1986 to provide recruitment, technical support and student services for online learning programs across Ontario. It operates 112 learning centers in small, rural and remote communities. The organization's portal provides a centralized search of over 1,000 programs and 19,000 online courses from colleges and universities. It aims to increase access to post-secondary education for residents in underserved areas by automating program and course data transfer between schools and the portal to ensure timely and accurate information for prospective students.

1. THE PORTAL – HELP US
HELP YOUR STUDENTS
college, university & literacy programs & courses
right where you live!

2. About Contact North
 We are your recruitment and support team in small,
rural and remote areas
 1986
 Non-profit organization
 112 staffed online learning centres in small, rural
and remote areas, Aboriginal and Francophone
communities
 Support services to colleges, universities and
literacy and basic skills providers

3. Where we are
There are 112 online learning centres across Ontario supporting small, rural and
remote areas and Aboriginal and Francophone communities.

4. What we do locally
 At each online learning centre,
students and prospective students
can:
 Meet with a Coordinator
 Obtain information on available
programs and courses;
 Get assistance with the registration
process;
 Get technical support throughout the
course;
 Obtain support and encouragement
from staff and peers as they pursue
their course.

5. The Contact North | Contact Nord Portal

7. The Contact North | Contact Nord Portal
 Key features:
 1,097 program options
 19,579 online course options
 Includes OL courses and non-OL college online courses
 Keyword search and search refinement since 2008
 Context: Getting Started, Find a Career, Student
Services, Success Stories
 Direct links to institutions on search results pages
 One-stop shop for online learning in Ontario

8. Portal Analytics
 Current Contact North Analytics:
 Unique Visitors – Apr/10 to Mar/11: 43,754
 Unique Visitors – Apr/11 to Mar/12: 102,268
 133.73% Growth
 The Search Tool is the page (www.studyonline.ca) that is
most frequently accessed by visitors
 92% of visitors accessing the Student Portal website
use the search tool

9. Benefits for your College and OL
 Increased reach in other/rural parts of the province
(and to a lesser extent in other jurisdictions)
 Link-outs to your eLearning/Distance education or
program pages from interested individuals (registration
referrals/leads)
 Projected growth in unique visitors in the coming year
due to promotional efforts including 750,000 course
guides distributed in 112 communities
 More timely information to more prospective students
can lead to increased registrations

10. Current Status
 Data Transfer:
2 automated XML feeds (Algonquin, Lambton)
 8 semester based Excel (csv) uploads (Cambrian,
Collège Boréal, Conestoga, La Cité collégiale, Loyalist,
Mohawk, Niagara, Sault)
 14 colleges: manual data entry is still used (not
effective nor efficient)

11. Automated Data Transfer Benefits
 Benefits to colleges:
 Increased accuracy of course and program data
 Timely access to information by Portal visitors
 Link-out reports coming this fall
 There is work involved to get started, then once
automated there is less work than there is now for
everyone involved, and better value for prospective
students

12. Our Proposal
 To each college: Join the Data Transfer Initiative
 Fall 2011 Student Usability study: students need timely
and accurate information on Ontario publicly-assisted
online study options to make an informed decision
 Begin by uploading Excel files containing course and
program data each semester (starting in June)
 Begin planning for an XML data feed for maximum
timeliness and accuracy (live in 2012)
 Let’s meet: luc@contactnorth.ca

13. n k y o u
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