NAIT-SAIT Audiovisual Link

A high-speed videoconference link between the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) will be used to deliver interactive distance learning, beginning with the joint NAIT/SAIT Bachelor of Applied Information Systems Technology degree in January, 2000. It will allow NAIT and SAIT to share computer applications and curriculum with each other, and other institutions, while participating in an ever-growing network of learning partnerships.

The NAIT/SAIT AV Link takes the institutes to the next level of interactive distance learning. For example, SAIT’s end of the link will be a highly sophisticated classroom featuring MPEG@-based video (the same kind used for DVD movies) and a real-time data link utilizing Internet II technology. Robotic cameras in the rool will follow instructors as they move around using infrared targets and instructors will be able to put any student, at either end of the link, onto an eight by six foot screen television for "face to face" interaction with instructors and fellow learners. Employing this kind of powerful technology in the classroom represents the future of learning [and] signals a new era of accessibility, said SAIT president Irene Lewis.

SAIT and Canadian Pacific Railway On Track Together

Three customized railway training programs are being offered at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) for railway companies across the country - perhaps, even around the world. SAIT signed a five-year, $5 million agreement with Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to offer training to its 14,000 employees nationwide. As part of the partnership, CPR will be providing nearly $1.8 million in equipment for SAIT’s new railway training facility - which projects a real-life railroad - and working with SAIT to develop curriculum for the locomotive engineer, conductor and rail traffic controller programs. It is a very dynamic partnership, with SAIT predicting that the railway training facility will be increasingly in demand as large numbers of Canadian railway workers retire, and technological changes in the rail industry mandate the need for highly trained technical workers. As such, SAIT is working with CPR, the Railway Association of Canada and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology to establish an Institute of Railway Technologies.

Mobile Learning Centre

Northern Lights College and Scotiabank have partnered to launch a mobile learning centre which offers expanded training opportunities to remote communities and industry throughout the College region. The portability and flexability of theScotiabank-Northern Lights College Mobile Learning Centre is in direct response to the challenges employers face in trying to fing non-traditional training opportunities for workers.

The Centre was custom-designed and built by members of the College’s Carpentry and Welding programs. It is transported using existing trucking equipment and trained personnel from the College’s Professional Drive Education Department. Potential courses made available through the Centre include: airbrakes, first aid, computer training, oil and gas speciality training, workplace hazards information systems and other business and industry-related programs.

Four Colleges Partner in Petroleum Training

The Canadian Petroleum Training Partnership is a new cooperative venture between the College of the North Atlantic, Lambton College, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, four colleges that specialize in education and training for the petroleum industry. The members of this partnership are committed to providing world-class, industry-certified education and training both in Canada and around the world, with a "one-window" approach or all petroleum and energy industry training requirements.

Formerly competitors for training contracts, these four institutions can now share efforts to promote and market Canada’s strong capability in the petroleum sector. The partnership will also provide increased capability to the four members to pursue larger clients and opportunities, and provide a wider range of specialized training programs.

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