Kristin Lapierre
Certificate in Adult Learning
Kristin Lapierre was already an experienced teacher working in outreach education for youth when she began her search for a program that offered counselling and career advising skills — something her position often required.
At the time, Kristin was preparing for a move. Her husband was in the Canadian Armed Forces and together they were about to go to the United States for a three-year posting. She knew she wouldn't be able to teach there and wanted to spend her time by taking a program that complemented her bachelor's and master's degrees and help her gain a permanent teaching position when she returned.
"I needed something that was 100 per cent online, I wasn't going to be able to come back for classes or practicums" says Kristin. "After searching various universities, I found the UCalgary Continuing Education program was the best one — it had the content I needed and it was entirely online."
Kristin had taken several distance and online courses when she was pursuing her degrees — dating as far back as 2006 — so she came into the program feeling very comfortable with the prospect of online learning.
"The learning management system — D2L — was pretty straight forward," she says. "It was definitely one of the simpler ones I've used. Everything was nicely laid out and organized.
"The instructors were well organized and they all had course outlines posted, which I really liked. It made it easy to know what the content was going to be, and what assignments were due. For me, that was a strength in the system."
Kristin says her UCalgary experience has been positive. "It was a good opportunity for me, and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to upgrade their skills in this area. The content was good and the resources were readily available. I really liked the combination of asynchronous and synchronous ... and I thought the quality of instruction was good."
In 2017, Kristin was selected as a recipient for a Continuing Education Endowment Award — scholarship money she was able to use towards her next semester's course fees. It was the second time she had applied for the awards.
"That was a real bonus ... a nice reward ... it was like receiving a 'thank you' for my hard work and dedication!"
Kristin is confident her new certificate will complement her degrees and serve her well in her career. "Now I can offer future employers more skills and if I return to outreach, I'll definitely have the counselling skills I need."