The Ontario government made three major announcements for post-secondary students Jan. 13-16, including millions of spending on a new online learning system and a credit transfer database.
The government will be putting $42 million into Ontario Online, an online resource aimed to better co-ordinate online learning in the province, which is expected to launch in 2015. The site will have three parts, including a central hub for full online courses, a space for research and best practices exchange, and a support hub that will offer academic and technical assistance.
“We have some leaders in Ontario when it comes to online learning technology, but we have a real hodge-podge across the province,” Brad Duguid, Ontario minister of training, colleges, and universities, said over teleconference.
“This is a huge undertaking and it moves Ontario from being a jurisdiction that was at best in the middle of the road when it comes to implementing online technology, to a jurisdiction that I think is fast going to become a global leader,” he said.
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is concerned that faculty are not involved in the board of the new program. Graeme Stewart, the organization’s communications manager, said the board guiding the new project is heavy in university and college administrators, but does not include “frontline” faculty, including the people that generally design and teach courses.
Stewart said the OCUFA is also concerned that prioritizing online teaching hurts faculty employment. While professors in some universities may be designing courses, those teaching them often face unstable contract employment.
“We support online learning, but we need to do it for the right reasons—for student success, not just to save money, which is what we sometimes see the government most interested in,” Stewart said.
In another major project launch, the provincial government intends to use online resources to make it easier for post-secondary students to transfer schools.
The new database, ONTransfer, launched Jan. 20 and is part of a $73.7-million investment in credit transfer improvement between 2011 and 2016. The database allows students to conduct searches to see which colleges and universities will accept transferred credits.
Both new online systems are expected to save students and taxpayers thousands of dollars and will put pressure on institutions to accept more credits, according to Duguid.
Duguid also discussed a new opportunity for OSAP students to volunteer at the Pan and Parapan Am Games in 2015.
The province is seeking 20,000 volunteers to help put together the international event, and is offering students an extra interest-free six months after graduation in exchange for full-time volunteer labour.
The initiative is intended to allow OSAP students to participate in the games without penalizing them for not working during the summer period.
