eCampusOntario is a provincially-funded non-profit organization that leads a consortium of Ontario’s publicly-funded colleges, universities and Indigenous institutes to develop and test online learning tools to advance the use of education technology and digital learning environments.[1]

Online Portal

In 2015 the organization launched its website, which was built around an online course portal.[2] The portal exists to help Internet users locate and browse the online and technology-enabled courses and programs on offer by Ontario’s 45 public post-secondary institutions.[3]

Open Textbook Library

In 2016, the organization released an online Open Textbook Library, developed in collaboration with BCcampus and Ryerson University.[4] The library contains free open textbooks that are available for public use. Some of the textbooks are aligned with Ontario post-secondary courses.[5]

Educational Technology Sandbox

eCampusOntario also maintains an Educational Technology Sandbox, an online environment that allows select member institutions the opportunity to explore and test new tools that support technology-enabled teaching and learning. These include an Open Badging initiative, an experiential learning platform called Riipen, and a Virtual Reality Lab platform developed by a company called Labster.[6]

Organizational Funds

eCampusOntario also funds the development of educational research, eLearning resources and online and technology-enabled courses. It has three major funds: the Open Content Fund, the Program Development Fund,[7] and the Research and Innovation Fund.[8] A total of $17.7M in funding was awarded to institutions and educators during the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 fiscal years.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "About". Ecampusontario.ca. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
  2. ↑ "Newsroom : Ontario Launches Online Education Portal". News.ontario.ca. 2015-10-08. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
  3. ↑ Emily Haws (2015-10-21). "Ontario government unveils large online course portal – The Charlatan, Carleton's independent newspaper". Charlatan.ca. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
  4. ↑ Wang, Fangmin. eCampusOntario Infrastructure for Open Publishing of Learning Resources. Ryerson University, 2017, eCampusOntario Infrastructure for Open Publishing of Learning Resources.
  5. ↑ Government of Ontario. "Ontario Making College and University More Affordable with Free Online Textbooks." News.ontario.ca, Government of Ontario, 6 June 2017
  6. ↑ eCampusOntario. "Introducing the Educational Technologies Sandbox." eCampusOntario, Government of Ontario, 11 Sept. 2017.
  7. ↑ "Program Development Funding | eCampusOntario". Ecampusontario.ca. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
  8. ↑ University of Toronto. "eCampusOntario 2016-18 Call for Proposals." University of Toronto Online Learning Strategies, University of Toronto, 29 July 2016.
  9. ↑ https://www.ecampusontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/eCampusAnnualReport_2016_2017_Final.pdf
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