About me
Centre for Distance Education
Athabasca University
B.Sc., University of Minnesota, 1970
M.Ed., University of Alberta, 1972
Ph.D., University of Alberta, 1984
Tel:(866) 514-6234
Email: patf@athabascau.ca
Repository (Most Recent Publications)
I joined the faculty of Athabasca University's Master of Distance Education program in 1996, after spending the previous 5 years as an account manager and regional manager with TRO Learning. (TRO's product is the PLATO computer-assisted learning system.)
Before that I was a high school teacher in Manitoba, and for 20 years was with Alberta Advanced Education, mostly at the Alberta Vocational College (AVC) in Edmonton. At AVC I taught in the English and ESL programs, spent five years as Chairman of the Adult Basic Education (ABE) department, and was Director of Research for six years. Along the way, I also spent a year in the Alberta Department of Advanced Education, did some interesting private consulting in Western Canada and the NWT, and taught continuing education classes to adults at Grant MacEwan College and the Edmonton Public Schools Continuing Education Centre.
While at AVC I was involved in developing, managing and evaluating computer-assisted and computer-managed learning projects throughout this period (using PLATO and other CAL and CML systems). I also designed a package called Math for New Readers which I delivered to various areas of Alberta, often using teleconference technology. (This experience convinced me that worthwhile learning could occur without me being right there -- an important lesson for any distance educator.) While at AVC I got interested in adult literacy, and served as president of both the Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) and the Alberta Association for Adult Literacy (AAAL). I keep my literacy links up now by occasional evaluation and consulting contracts, and as an advisory committee member to various literacy projects. I am a former president of ADETA (the Alberta Distance Education and Training Association.) I have produced and regularly teach three courses in the program, Advanced Technology for Distance Education and Training (MDDE620), On-Line Teaching (MDDE621), and Seminar Topics in Educational Conferencing (MDDE661).
I coordinate the MDE program's annual Distance Education Technology Symposium (DETS), the first of which was held in Banff in 1998. DETS is now held yearly at the Banff Centre, in May. (Contact me or the CDE office for information about this year's Symposium.) I also coordinate the MDE's Post-Baccelaureate Diploma in Distance Education (Technology) (PBDDET).
My current research interests include the relationship between technology and productivity, and what constitutes "best" (or even good) practice where technology is used for interaction. I have been working on an approach for analyzing CMC interaction for some time, which I hope will produce some principles for moderators (see below for papers on this topic). I have an ongoing interest in adult development programming (adult basic education, literacy, and English as a Second Language).
My interests in the training world relate partially to my hobby, aviation (I am an instrument-rated commercial pilot and Class 3 Flight Instructor), including the models used in aviation for instruction (especially upgrading and recurrency).
Finally, I have lived in Edmonton with my wife and four sons since 1971, and am happily involved with our third generation members as they begin to arrive.
[See also "research" and the "PLATO" listing for more PLATO-related material.]
Besides working for the PLATO company, TRO Learning, for over five years, I worked with PLATO at AVC for over a dozen years as a teacher, administrator, and researcher. These are some of the results.
I haven't done a workshop on this topic in some time, but from 1984 on I did some two dozen of them, and I am still very interested in the area. There are some very promising new approaches now - some, I am pleased to report, from Alberta! These papers, while unpublished, were circulated in the literacy community, and formed the basis for presentations.
[These papers were produced for the teachers who were the audience for the workshops themselves.]
I worked in institutional research at the Alberta Vocational Centre/College for a number of years, as well as doing evaluation and research as a private consultant. These are some of the more interesting (I think) areas I ventured into.
[I served as external evaluator on a two-year project testing an essential skills portfolio assessment and planning program called ESPORT (http://www.esportfolio.com/ESPORT/english/). In addition to the final report, there were two interim reports, in July 2005, and February 2006.]
Fahy, P. J., Vaughan, K., Stefanick, L., & Smith, J. (2006). Online marking – what does it have to offer? Athabasca University, Learning Services Conference 2006, Edmonton, September 30.
[The conference event occurs annually at this university. I was part of a panel at which I demonstrated use of Dragon Dictate dictation software for use in marking papers and in CMC.]
Fahy, P.J. (2006). Panel member, Framework for research in literacy practice. National Literacy Secretariat. Literacy Learning Centre, Edmonton, February 17.
[At one time I was very involved in literacy and adult basic education (ABE). I still occasionally get asked to participate in activities such as this. Given the changes at the federal level affecting literacy and ABE in Canada that occurred in late 2006, one wonders whether the effort was worthwhile.]
Fahy, P. J. (2006). Social and task concerns of online small groups: Evidence from CMC transcripts. Hawaii International Conference on Education, January 6 – 9, 2006, Honolulu (January 8).
[A small but surprisingly vigorous group of distance educators attends this conference. I had gone previously in 2004, and was pleased to be able to go again. This topic was related to my previous presentation, and there were people in the audience who remembered the earlier one – a nice bonus.]
Fahy, P. J. (2005). Can research drive instructional design? Does it? Invited presentation, Instructional Design Conference 2005, Saskatoon, October 17. (http://www.campussaskatchewan.ca/csevents/idc2005/index.html)
[This invited presentation gave me a chance to renew friendships with people in Saskatchewan I had not seen in some time.]
Fahy, P. J. (2005). How small groups form and interact online. McGraw-Hill Ryerson 2005 Teaching, Learning, and Technology Conference, May 13, the University of Alberta, Edmonton.
[A large number attended this event. Another opportunity to connect with faculty of other institutions outside of Alberta. This was a presentation on Bales’s typology for small face-to-face groups, from 1950, applied to online communities. People seem to find this topic and approach interesting – as I do.][ My first visit to Hawaii. I liked it so much, I went again in 2006. I good opportunity to see what non-DE organizations are doing with technology, and how they view DE from their perspective (this was not a DE-centred conference).]
"A personal view: distance education and literacy in Alberta." (June, 1997). Saskatchewan Literacy Newsletter.
"Graduate students' interests in technology training: results of a survey". June 1997. [Eric Documents: ED 410 432]
"Current writing attitudes and practices in selected adult literacy programs in Western Canada." (Summer, 1999). The Alberta Journal of Educational Research, XLV,, 209-211.
"On-line learning: How accessible?" (1999). (With Laurel Archer, MDE.) Open Praxis, 1, 15-18.
"A survey of business-education partnerships in Alberta." (May, 1999). (With Jane Friensen, MDE.) Journal of the Alberta Association for Continuing Education, 26, 21-28.
"Reflections on the productivity paradox and distance education technology." (1999). Journal of Distance Education, 13 , 66-73.
"Reflections on making 'best use' of technology in distance education." (March, 2000). CADE Communique, (15)2, pp. 7-9. (Chinese translation reprinted in Open Education Research, 5, 26-27. Translated by Xiao Junhong, Chair and Associate Professor, Foreign Languages Department, Shantou Radio and TV University.)
"Online learning: how accessible?" (With L. Archer.) Originally appeared in Open Praxis, 1, 1999, pp.15-18. SP – 98/99. (Chinese translation, Distance Education in China, 11 (May, 2000); translation by Frank Xiao, Visiting Research Fellow, OUUK.)
"The Development and Testing of a Tool for Analysis of Computer Mediated Conferencing Transcripts." (2000). With Gail Crawford, Mohamed Ally, Peter Cookson, Verna Keller and Frank Prosser. Alberta Journal of Education Research, 46, Spring, 85-88.
"Addressing some common problems in transcript analysis." International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 1(2), Research Notes, January, 2001. Available from: http://www.irrodl.org/content/v1.2/research.html#Fahy.
"Distance Education in Alberta's Public Colleges." International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 1(2), Field Notes, January, 2001. With Jim Brennan, MDE. Available from: http://www.irrodl.org/content/v1.2/field.html#fahy.
"Patterns of interaction in a computer conference transcript." International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 2(1). Summer, 2001. With G. Crawford and M Ally. Available from: http://www.irrodl.org/content/v2.1/fahy.html.
Fahy, P. J. (2001). Considerations in planning for online technology in open and distance learning. Global E-Journal of Open and Flexible Learning, 1(1). Available: http://www.ignou.ac.in/globalejournal/index2.htm.
Book review - "Cohort programming and learning." International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 2(2). (January, 2002). http://www.icaap.org/iuicode?149.2.2.18.
"Evaluating vendor-supplied information." (2002). (Technical Notes.) International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 3(1). Available: http://www.irrodl.org/content/v3.1/technical.html#x.
"Use of linguistic qualifiers and intensifiers in a computer conference." (2002). The American Journal of Distance Education, 16(1), pp. 5 - 22.
"Epistolary and expository interaction patterns in a computer conference transcript." (2002). The Journal of Distance Education, 17(1), pp. 20 - 35.
Ally, M. & Fahy, P. J. (2002). “Using students’ learning styles to provide support in distance education.” Paper published in the 18th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning Proceedings, Madison, August 14 - 16.
Fujino, L., Martindale, N., Mulder, S., Woodward, C. & Fahy, P. J. (2002). Integrated collaborative tools. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 3(2). Available: http://www.irrodl.org/content/v3.2/index.htm.
Kinsel, E., Roy, M., Waldman, H., Woloshuk, D. & Fahy, P. J. (2002). Chat and instant messaging systems (synchronous): Report 3/3. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 3(2).
Ludwig, B., Poscente, K., Fahy, P.J., & Baggaley, J. (2002). Chat and Instant Messaging Systems (synchronous): Report 2/3. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 3(2).
Baggaley, J., Fahy, P. J. and O'Hagan, C. (2002.) Educational Conferencing: Video and text traditions: Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Educational Conferencing (ISEC). Alberta: Athabasca University. Available online: http://cde.athabascau.ca/ISEC2002/.
Fahy, P. J., & Baggaley, J. (2002) International Collaboration in Graduate Distance Education. Chapter in “Higher education collaboration in North America: The next decade.” CONAHEC.
"Indicators of support in online interaction." (2003). International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(1). Available: http://www.irrodl.org/content/v4.1/fahy.html.
"Development of a Defence Learning Network for the Canadian Department of National Defence." (2003). (With D. Margueratt.) International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(2). (Research Note). (Available: http://www.irrodl.org/content/v4.2/margueratt-fahy.html.)
Book review: "Dilworth, R. L. & Willis, V. J. (2003). Action learning: Images and pathways." International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(2). (Available: http://www.irrodl.org/content/v4.2/fahy_review.html.)
"Investigating triggers in CMC text transcripts." (2003). (With K. Poscente.) International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(2). (Research Note). (Available: http://www.irrodl.org/content/v4.2/poscente_fahy.html.)
Ally, M. & Fahy, P. J. (2005). Learning style in online interaction in distance education. Indian Journal of Open Learning, 14(1), p. 15 - 33.
"Web-based training: Principles and issues." (2004). Entry, The Internet Encyclopedia, (Vol. 3, pp. 661 - 673). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (Invited chapter.)
Materi, M. & Fahy, P. J. (2004). Interim Report: A Case Study of Internet-based Distance Education Program Development in Vietnam. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 5(1). Available: http://www.irrodl.org/content/v5.1/materi-fahy_fieldnote.html
Fahy, P. J. (2004). Media characteristics and online learning technology. In T. Anderson and F. Elloumi (Eds.), Theory and Practice of Online Learning (pp. 137 – 171). Athabasca: Athabasca University Press. (Invited chapter.) Available: http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/.
Fahy, P. J. (2004). Don’t blame the policy. Letter, University Affairs, February, pp. 5, 7.
Fahy, P. J. (2004). Use of the Bales model for analysis of small group communications in the analysis of interaction in computer-based asynchronous conferences. Paper at the IASTED International Conference on Knowledge Sharing And Collaborative Engineering ~KSCE 2004, November 22-24, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. (Paper to be included in refereed Proceedings.)
Fahy, P. J., & Spencer, B. (2004). Research experience and agreement with selected ethics principles from Canada’s Tri-Council Policy Statement – Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. Journal of Distance Education,19(2), pp. 28 -58.
Fahy, P. J. & Ally, M. (2005). Student learning style and asynchronous computer-mediated conferencing. American Journal of Distance Education, 19(1), pp. 5 – 22.
Ally, M. & Fahy, P. J. (2005). Learning Style in Online Interaction in Distance Education. Indian Journal of Open Learning, 14(1), p. 15 - 33.
Fahy, P. J. (2005). Planning for Multimedia Learning. In Sanjaya Mishra and Ramesh C. Sharma (Eds.), Interactive multimedia in education and training, pp. 1 - 24. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing.
Fahy, P. J. (2005). Two methods for assessing critical thinking in computer-mediated communications (CMC) transcripts. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning (March). Available from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Mar_05/article02.htm
Baggaley, J. & Klass, J. (Fahy, P. J., Interim Series Editor.) (2006). Video conferencing with audio software. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 7(1). (Technical Evaluation Report #56.) Available: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/312/49
Tremblay, R. (2006). (Fahy, P. J., Interim Series Editor.) “Best practices” and collaborative software in online teaching. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 7(1). http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/309/51
Fahy, P. J. (2006). Online and face-to-face group interaction processes compared using Bales’ Interaction Process Analysis(IPA). European Journal of Open, Distance, and E-learning. Available: http://www.eurodl.org/materials/contrib/2006/Patrick_J_Fahy.htm
Fahy, P. J. (2006, November). Final Report: ESPORT project evaluation. Unpublished report to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC).
Fahy, P. J. (2007, May). The occurrence and character of stories and story-telling in a computer conference. Distance Education, 28(1), pp. 45 – 63.
Fahy, P. J. & Cummins, P. (2007). Essential Skills Computerized OccupationalReadiness Training (ESCORT) Demonstration Project, Canada. In Sanjaya Mishra and Ramesh C. Sharma (Eds.), Cases on global e-learning practices: Successes and pitfalls (pp. 293 - 305). Hershey, PA: Idea Group. (Available: http://hdl.handle.net/2149/1137.) (Book chapter).
Fahy, P. J. (2007). Ethics review concerns of Canada’s distance researchers. U. Demiray & R. Sharma (Eds.), Ethical practices and implications in distance learning, pp. 230 – 248. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Fahy, P. J. (2008). Characteristics of interactive online learning media. (Athabasca University book – chapter update.) (Available from http://www.aupress.ca/books/Terry_Anderson/fahy.pdf.)
Fahy, P. J., Spencer, B., & Halinski, T. (2008). The self-reported impact of graduate program completion on the careers and plans of graduates. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 9(1), pp. 51 - 71.
Fahy, P. J. (2008). Web-Based Training. In The Handbook of Computer Networks (Vol. 3, pp. 962-973). Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley and Sons Inc. (Invited chapter.)
Fahy, P. J. & Steel, N. (2008). Post-secondary learning priorities of workers in an oil sands camp in northern Alberta. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 60(3), pp. 273 – 295. (Available from
Fahy, P. J., Steel, N., and Martin, P. (2009). Preferences of residents in four remote Alberta communities regarding local post-secondary programming. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(3).
Fahy, P. J. & Twiss, D. (2010). Adult literacy practitioners’ uses of and experiences with online technologies for professional development. Journal of Applied Research on Learning, 3(2), pp. 1 – 18. (Available from http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Reports/Journal/JARLSeptember2007.htm?Language=EN)
Steel, N. & Fahy, P. J. (2011). Attracting, Preparing and Retaining Under-Represented Populations in Rural and Remote Northern Communities. International Review of Research in Open and Distant Learning, 12(4).
Fahy, P. J. The impact of publication: What happens to those papers? (In development.)