Ontario Launches Online Education Portal
College and University Students Can Access More Than 13,000 Online Courses! Today the province launched a new online education portal that will give Ontario postsecondary students access to thousands of accredited online college and university courses.
The new web portal, which will give students greater flexibility to complete their courses, houses more than 13,000 online courses and includes:
- A searchable catalogue of courses offered online
- Access to 277 new and redesigned courses with transferable credits between participating institutions
- Features that easily and immediately identify credit transfer information
- Support and resources for faculty on how to design and deliver online courses
- Academic and technical support resources for all users.
In total, Ontario is investing $72 million over five years to support the development and operation of eCampus Ontario. All 45 publicly-assisted colleges and universities in Ontario are offering online courses on the web portal.
Providing postsecondary students with a higher quality, more flexible online learning experience is part of the government’s plan to build Ontario up by making the largest investment in public infrastructure in the province’s history, investing in people’s talents and skills, creating a dynamic, supportive environment where business thrives, and building a secure retirement savings plan.
QUICK FACTS
- eCampus Ontario, the administrator of the web portal, is a non-profit collaborative centre of excellence in technology-enabled learning and is governed by a board of directors made up of senior administrators from colleges and universities, faculty experts in online learning, students and members of the public.
- The portal will continue to be updated and enhanced to improve functionality including more extensive course and program information, greater personalization and expanded student services.
- Ontario already offers hundreds of online courses that are transferable between participating colleges and universities through collaboration with the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer, Contact North and OntarioLearn.
- About 170,000 additional students are enrolled in Ontario colleges and universities in 2014-15 compared to 2002-03 – an increase of more than 43 per cent.