This section examines the impacts of the OLT program by examining project sustainability and the impact of the program on project sponsors and partners, end-users and the community. Once again it should be noted, however, that it is difficult to determine precisely to what extent the impacts would not have occurred without the OLT because of the lack of program safeguards to limit the risk that projects and leveraged funds were not incremental (as discussed in Section 5.4.2). 9.1 Project SustainabilityThe evidence suggests that many OLT-funded projects would continue in some form after OLT support ends, or produced outputs/products that will be used after OLT support ends. An assessment of project sustainability for the ten case study projects indicates that:
The surveyed project sponsors were asked to indicate the extent to which their current project would continue once OLT funding expired. As highlighted in Chart 9-1, more than three-quarters (78%) of project sponsors felt that their project would continue in some form after their OLT support ends. Chart 9-1 also indicates that a significant proportion of the surveyed project sponsors (54%) noted that they expected the proportion of their project that would continue would constitute more than fifty percent of the activity funded by OLT. About a third (35%) indicated that fifty to ninety percent of their project would continue and nineteen percent (19%) indicated that one hundred percent or the entire project was expected to continue. Many of the key informants felt that it was too early in the life of the projects to know whether they would be sustainable. However, some believed that it was already evident that some projects are sustainable in the long term, while others are not. Key informants also noted numerous "offshoots" have led to additional projects that are currently in place without OLT funding. For many informants the biggest issue surrounding sustainability was funding. Necessary for sustainability is the need for project sponsors to assume some of the project cost currently funded through OLT, or continued involvement by OLT or government, as there are insufficient resources at the local level to sustain projects. Key informants suggested that the OLT could further sustain projects by funding projects for a longer durations and incorporating the notion of sustainability as a condition of funding, as a way of addressing the notion held by some project sponsors that OLT funds "pilots" and that completing the pilot means that the project is over. 9.2 Impact on Project Sponsors and PartnersMost project sponsors indicated that their project would not have gone ahead without OLT funding or would have proceeded on a more limited scale. As noted in Section 6.4, the majority (85%) of project sponsors surveyed noted that they would not have undertaken the same project without OLT funding. For example:
Several project sponsors noted that the provision of OLT funds helped ensure that adequate evaluations were completed during the project to identify lessons learned, as well as to provide direction for required changes in program delivery. Project sponsors indicated that interaction with the OLT had increased their knowledge of learning technologies. In addition to the impact of the funding, project sponsors were asked to comment on the impact of working with the OLT for their own organization. Project sponsors were positive in terms of the information acquired through their interaction with OLT. For example, interaction with OLT increased sponsors knowledge of:
9.3 Impact on End-UsersThere is a need for better outcome tracking at the end-user level. The evaluation of program impacts on end-users was limited because the program never required the collection of end-user client data from the funded projects and end-user/client information was unavailable from OLT administrative databases. The requirement for end-user data collection will be included in the new RMAF. It will be important, however, to test the new tracking methods in a variety of end-user settings to ensure that the new methods can be easily applied without undue impact on project administration or on program reach. The available evidence indicates that OLT projects had beneficial impacts for end-users. In order to partially compensate for the unavailability of end-user data, focus groups were conducted with three of the four CLN case studies. Each focus group consisted of nine end-users and identified the following positive impacts on end-users:
As indicated in Table 9-2, the surveyed project sponsored and partners indicated that OLT funding had achieved the following:
Site visits conducted for the case studies also included interviews with the project sponsors and partners, and these interviews cited further examples as to how OLT funded projects benefited end-users. As noted in Section 6.3:
9.4 Impact on the CommunityThe available evidence indicates that OLT projects have beneficial impacts on the community. The surveyed project sponsors and partners also cited community-level benefits associated with OLT funded projects. Project sponsors and partners agreed that funded projects have:
The OLT program contributed to improved accessibility to learning technologies. Almost half (44%) of all CLN project were directly linked, through the project partner or sponsor, to a CAP site. Additionally, by funding CLN projects facilitated by community colleges or institutes (22%) and not-for-profit organizations (38%) that serve the community, OLT has further increased accessibility to learning technologies. With respect to the many objectives of CLN funded projects, most were aimed at increasing learning skills (23%), reducing barriers (23%) or increasing accessibility to technologies (27%). The case study evidence provides some specific examples of OLT funded projects that increased accessibility to learning technologies by providing learning opportunities through the use of various technologies.
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