Education relies on more than just paper and textbooks. Technological advances in education have allowed students from all over the world to receive quality online learning from the comfort of their homes, offices or while on the move. More and more institutions are using technology to enhance course offerings and improve teaching practices.

The Educational Technologies Sandbox is an online environment that allows select member institutions the opportunity to explore and test new tools that support technology-enabled teaching and learning. Currently it contains three eCampusOntario initiatives that are working to bring further innovation to Ontario institutions.

These opportunities are:

Learn MoreVirtual Reality Labs

Virtual Reality Labs

Imagine using gamification elements such as an immersive 3D universe, storytelling, and a scoring system to stimulate students’ natural curiosity and create connections between science and the real world.

Learn MoreOpen Badges

Open Badges

eCampusOntario’s Open Badging initiative will allow learners from across the province to receive digital badges that recognize the skills gained during experiential learning courses and/or co-curricular activities.

Learn MoreExperiential Learning

Experiential Learning

The goal for this experiential learning platform is that it enables educators and their academic institutions to increase student engagement and success, while developing industry relationships, through project-based assignments.

EdTech Sandbox: Risk-free testing of new technologies

Each one of these projects was designed to provide a solution to a current online learning problem. The Virtual Reality Labs project was created to provide STEM programs with VR learning opportunities, while Open Badges was developed to help students receive recognition for soft skills gained during experiential and extracurricular activities. Experiential learning opportunities aim to effectively solve the issue of graduates “needing experience to gain experience.”