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eCourses Manitoba – Improving Access to Online Learning
It’s not often you find a resource that improves access to education while reducing costs, but eCourses Manitoba manages to do both for students throughout Manitoba. Created by Campus Manitoba with support and contributions from seven public post-secondary universities and colleges serving the province, the website is designed to create a user-friendly pathway to connect students with available online courses, regardless of their home institution.
Who is eCourses Manitoba for?
Two groups of students might benefit from eCourses Manitoba:
- Lifelong learners researching their online education options
- Current students interested in completing courses to transfer to their degree or diploma program
The site, initially launched in 2014, is available to everyone, and it is strategically designed to help learners navigate the wide range of online courses available in Manitoba to present the most current course information from each local institution.
Current students can identify the subject area that interests them, then learn more about each available course, including how the course transfers. Once they’ve found the course they’re looking for, they can request a letter of permission from their institution and apply as a visiting student from the institution that offers the course. If the student attends one of our partner institutions, the fees for both the letter of permission and the visiting student application are waived when using eCoursesMB.ca.
Anyone else can search the site to find available courses and then click through eCoursesMB.ca to register directly with the institution.
“Access to education is at the core of what we do,” said Kim Grenier Mintenko, executive director at Campus Manitoba. “The eCourses Manitoba website is a fantastic resource to connect students throughout the province with the institutions offering the courses they want and need. We are thrilled to see how this online resource has matured, and with the help of the academic advisors in our participating institutions, eCoursesMB.ca is quickly becoming the first stop for anyone considering online learning in Manitoba.”
What kind of courses can you find on eCourses Manitoba?
The website connects learners with online courses across various subject areas, including applied, creative, and fine arts; business management and leadership; community services; education; sciences; Indigenous studies; and many more. Users can find the subject they want from one of the institutions, select the session that best fits their schedule (the earlier they apply, the better chance they have of choosing the session they want), and then complete the course.
These online courses offer a huge advantage to students. Many are asynchronous, allowing students to stop and start as needed; they can break the course into convenient chunks or complete it at irregular times to fit their work or life schedule. They can rewind the lesson to review parts that interested or challenged them, and since closed captioning is available on many courses, people with hearing challenges, as well as students with English as an additional language, have other channels to digest the materials. The courses can also be downloaded for use in areas of the province that don’t have reliable or sufficient internet access.
“Pre-COVID-19, people saw online courses as a convenient option for students,” explained DawnDena Gordon, virtual help desk professional at Campus Manitoba. “The sudden wealth of online courses in Manitoba needed an effective repository, and working with the post-secondary institutions, we were able to create a space that has everything the students need to find and apply for the online courses they want.”
A Great Resource for Students and Academic Advisors
Trent Gill, an academic advisor at Brandon University (and former Campus Manitoba team member), shared his perspective on eCourses Manitoba. “When students come for academic advising, in some cases, they’re looking for courses available online or courses they can take in the summer. I’ll start by showing them the options available at Brandon University, but if the course they want isn’t available at BU online, then the next best thing is to find it from another university in Manitoba. In that case, I’ll walk them through the process of using eCourses Manitoba to discover what’s available in other institutions. The website shows us if the course is available in an upcoming term, and I can also see how that course transfers to BU, which is what I need to understand how that could apply to the student’s degree program. For example, if a student is looking for an elective online in the summer, but they can’t attend the course in person, they need a remote solution with flexible learning. In this case, I’ll point them to the eCourses Manitoba website, which will show them the online courses available from seven public post-secondary institutions in Manitoba. It gives them options beyond what’s available from their home university.”
eCourses Manitoba – Now Available
We invite you to check out the wide range of courses offered through eCoursesMB.ca. The course information comes directly from each institution, so the details are current and accurate, and the session picker allows students to choose the course start date that works best for them.
Additional Thoughts
“Campus Manitoba has been involved in remote learning since our very early days back in 1999, when we provided distributed learning courses throughout the province via satellite. The eCourses Manitoba site is an excellent and innovative way to improve access to education for everyone.” – DawnDena Gordon, virtual help desk, Campus Manitoba
“If a student isn’t able to obtain a credit they need for an upper-year course, whether they had to drop the course or didn’t pass it in the winter term, they face the choice of either waiting for the course to come around again, potentially adding another year to their program, or making it up in the summer through an online course. eCourses Manitoba gives students options they can use to keep their degree on track and complete their education on their schedule.” – Trent Gill, academic advisor, Brandon University
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eCourses is your resource for online learning in Manitoba, providing flexible pathways for you to achieve your academic or career goals. With more than 1,200 courses to choose from, you can craft an education that works best for you. Our Virtual Help Desk is here to help you navigate through courses from across Manitoba’s post-secondary institutions.
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