eCampusOntario expands virtual learning impact with two new members

TORONTO, February 11, 2021 – eCampusOntario is pleased to announce two new members – Six Nations Polytechnic and Université de l’Ontario français. There are now 48 post-secondary institutions who have joined eCampusOntario’s mission to promote accessibility, collaboration, and innovation in online and technology-enabled learning in Ontario. These efforts enhance learner experience for students, support faculty development, and extend Ontario’s global reach.

“We are very proud and excited to welcome Six Nations Polytechnic and Université de l’Ontario français to our consortium,” said Robert Luke, Ph.D, Chief Executive Officer of eCampusOntario. “Our long history of advancing the use of education technology and digital learning environments has made us a key enabler in accelerating virtual learning to meet pandemic-driven needs, and we look forward to sharing our resources with and learning from these institutions. Strong and inclusive online and technology-enabled learning is more important now than ever in helping students, staff and faculty succeed today and in the future.”

Six Nations Polytechnic is a unique postsecondary organization, recognized by community, government, and institutions of higher learning, as a Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Knowledge. Established in Canada’s most populous First Nation, the polytechnic allows for its students to acquire skills that lead to employment as well as learn about the history, culture and philosophy of Indigenous peoples of the region.

“We’re thrilled to increase our collective capacity for virtual learning as a new member of eCampusOntario. This past year we launched pilots with our partner institutions that recognized the trend toward micro-credentials; preparing our students for a fast-changing workplace where micro-credentials can more efficiently determine skills and competencies for hiring.” – President and CEO, Rebecca Jamieson

Université de l’Ontario français (UOF) is the province’s newest publicly funded university and its first fully independent French-language university. Located in Toronto’s innovation corridor, the university will start welcoming students in September 2021. UOF’s initial programs of study address the major issues of the 21st century from a transdisciplinary perspective, moving beyond the constraints of traditional academic disciplines, while emphasizing discovery- and experienced-based learning through teaching face-to-face and across digital platforms. Additional programs are currently being developed, most notably in Education.

“The Université de l’Ontario français is very pleased to join the eCampusOntario consortium. The current global health crisis has accelerated the transformation of higher education by placing greater emphasis on distance learning. In this context, offering courses that guarantee students a high-quality learning experience is a major challenge that can be surmounted with the help of inter-institutional collaborations such as this.” – Prof. Denis Berthiaume, UOF Vice-president, Studies and Research.

eCampusOntario was founded in 2015 and is funded by the provincial government to promote innovation in digital learning for postsecondary education in Ontario on behalf of Ontario’s publicly-assisted institutions. The non-profit organization helps develop and test online learning to advance the use of education technology and digital learning environments.

Université de l’Ontario français is the first independent French-language university to join eCampusOntario, while the Six Nations Polytechnic is the second Indigenous institute to join.

Contact: communications@ecampusontario.ca