Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Mar 11/02) - For students in the North, learning online can be a chance to create communities and share experiences beyond the bounds of geography.

Take the example of Irene Sharkey, an Inuvik instructor of adult education who's taking a course in circumpolar studies offered through Athabasca University.

Since starting the course, she's met students from as far away as Finland and Russia.

"I'm really amazed because it makes the world so much smaller," Sharkey says. "We share so many things together. Like we're all interested in the climate change and how the North is being affected. A lot of the students are interested in self-government -- there's themes that are coming out."

The course discussion board allows students to transcend time zones, adding to conversations on their own time.

In Deline, adult educator Robert Goulet says the discussion portion of online courses are popular with students at the Aurora College Learning Centre. "It's new to them to talk to someone from another community or down south," Goulet says. "Even in math, they have journals and an exercise board to use as a discussion board."

Student Andy Masuzumi says he enjoys interacting with other students online. The 42-year-old welder is going back to school in Deline to learn about opening his own business. When he started taking his introductory online course in September, he says he didn't even know what a mouse was.

Now he's taking three online courses and getting a chance to meet students from all over Canada. "It's good because we can exchange information about our lifestyles," Masuzumi says. "If they're curious about something about the North, I can fill them in on it, and they can fill me in about the south."

The discussion boards also help students help each other, Masuzumi says.

"You can exchange ideas and information and such. If you're unsure about something, you write to the bulletin board, and if someone knows about it, and they'll post it up."