Lakehead University awarded $205,000 in the second round of eCampus Ontario’s Virtual Learning Strategy
Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ont.
Lakehead University has been awarded $205,000 by eCampusOntario as part of the second round of funding of the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS).
Originally announced on December 11, 2020, the VLS is a historic $50 million investment by the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) intended to drive growth and advancement in virtual learning across the province’s post-secondary institutions.
The VLS was introduced to expand the possibilities of traditional and life-long learning through the accelerated use of both online and hybrid learning.
To expand capacity of the Teaching Commons, Lakehead has received $150,000 to hire a full and part-time Instructional Designer and Education Media Specialist who will be utilized to support the training of faculty and instructors in online course development.
“These positions will allow the Teaching Commons to develop and deliver a series of focused workshop programs, develop a Faculty Development Passport to support instructors as they seek to improve their practice through formal and informal ways, and to support training on how to create professional development micro-credentials,” said Dr. Rhonda Koster, Deputy Provost and Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning).
Working in collaboration with colleagues at Nipissing, Algoma, and Laurentian Universities, $55,000 has also been awarded to research, build, and report on the impact of supporting faculty, through a reward and recognition process that issues micro-credentials.
“It’s fantastic to work on another project with the Lakehead University Teaching Commons,” said Dr. Patrick Maher, Dean of Teaching at Nipissing University and an alumnus of Lakehead.
“These funds will allow us to continue the ‘better together’ mentality we developed during the pandemic – whereby cooperation and collaboration worked so much better than competition,” Dr. Maher said.
“Through the two rounds of the Virtual Learning Strategy, Lakehead University has been awarded over $950,000 by eCampusOntario to expand its options for traditional and life-long learning through the accelerated use of both online and hybrid learning,” said Dr. Michel S. Beaulieu, Associate Vice-Provost (Academic).
“These new projects further Lakehead’s commitment to providing support for the delivery of high-quality programming that helps develop the leaders and changemakers of the future,” Dr. Beaulieu said.
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Media: For more information or interviews, please contact Brandon Walker, Media, Communications and Marketing Associate, at (807) 343-8110 ext. 8372 or mediarelations@lakeheadu.ca.
Lakehead University is a fully comprehensive university with approximately 9,700 full-time equivalent students and over 2,000 faculty and staff at two campuses in Orillia and Thunder Bay, Ontario. Lakehead has nine faculties, including Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Studies, Health & Behavioural Sciences, Law, Natural Resources Management, Science & Environmental Studies, and Social Sciences & Humanities. Lakehead University’s achievements have been recognized nationally and internationally, including being ranked, once again, among Canada’s Top 10 primarily undergraduate universities in Maclean’s 2021 University Rankings; as well as included in the top half of Times Higher Education's 2022 World Universities Rankings for the third consecutive year, and the number one university in the world with fewer than 10,000 students in THE's 2022 Impact Rankings (which assesses institutions against the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals). Visit www.lakeheadu.ca.
