Online Courses

Via internet delivery, an online course at the Professional Development Programs department, Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa will provide candidates with opportunities for...

• Collaborative learning and knowledge building
• “Human” teaching/learning relationships within an electronic context
• Ongoing professional dialogue with instructor and other course candidates
• Job-related, relevant and practical activities
• Reading, researching, reflecting upon, discussing and responding to educational documents, policies, practices and issues
• Presentations and/or demonstrations in areas of interest and expertise
• Professional networking and extended learning communities (global access to human, text and electronic resources)
• Small-group cooperative learning and problem-solving
• Ongoing formative and summative feedback from the course instructor and peers
• Exploring technological tools (power point presentations, whiteboard, digital video...)

Our PDP online courses are module-based. For each module, the course candidate is provided with:

• Specific learning expectations
• Content-related notes from the instructor
• A Demonstration of Learning (assignment, task) as well as the process to follow in order to successfully complete the Demonstration of Learning
• Required and recommended readings
• Assessment and evaluation criteria and achievement descriptors

The course environment includes:

• a course outline (general course learning expectations)
• an instructor biography
• introductory orientation activities
• a User Guide (“How-to” document on course navigation)
• downloadable tools and resources for the course candidates
• a Communication Center which features
• Email
• Chats
• Synchronous (real time) and asynchronous Discussion boards
• a course Calendar on which the instructor includes important dates and events
• a Gallery for posting, sharing and responding to the work of peers
• a private My Grades feature provides ongoing tracking of achievement by module

Chats are synchronous (real time) and take place in chat rooms where the group’s interaction is “live”. The chat may or may not be recorded. Candidates are expected to attend and participate in scheduled chats. Candidates who will be absent for a chat should inform the course instructor. They may include their comments and responses after the fact (if the chat is recorded). Discussions are an integral part of the course. They are asynchronous. This means that the candidates do not need to participate at the same time. They may contribute a response over an extended period of time. Discussion input is recorded for the duration of the course. Each candidate is expected to participate in discussions. The candidate’s participation is tracked by the course instructor.

• Convenience: Candidates may access the course at any time, from anywhere without the challenge and costs of commuting.
• Collaboration: Online courses are based on the principles of shared learning through discussion driven interaction.
• Accountability: Online courses require the candidate to assume responsibility for learning through sound self-management skills
• Reflection: Asynchronous discussions allow extended time resulting in deeper more meaningful reflection and responses
• Access to Resources: Online resources are often provided within the course content and are a “click” away
• Focus: Online courses minimize visual and auditory distractions thereby encouraging the candidate to focus on course content and meaning

We recommend that all users be familiar with 2 essential tasks:

• Send and receive email (with attachment);
• Execute search on a given subject by using a search engine such as Google, etc;

To access your e-learning courses and to participate in the online activities, you can either use a computer at school, at work, at home or any other station with Internet access.

Here is the list of the basic equipment required to follow your online course.

Items Required

Screen resolution with a resolution of 800 X 600
Internet connection minimum : modem 56 K
Web browser Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
Netscape Navigator 7.x (version 6 not supported)
Operating system Windows 95-98, NT, ME, 2000 and XP
Multimedia Sound card, speakers or earphones
Plug-in Acrobat Reader d’Adobe® (version 4 ou 5) :
Permits you to read and print online documents
Software Word processing: for example MS Word

Notes :

• Netscape 4.78 et 4.79 are not supported.
• Netscape 6.0 et 6.1 are not supported.
• Netscape 6.2.x may need an update Java "plug-in”

Online courses are listed as taking place at specific day/times.
Example: PDP 1210 - Visual Arts Part I - Monday, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
This means:
i) The course instructor will be online and available for immediate interaction with course candidates during the listed day/hours.
ii) Real-time course interaction (chats, discussions) scheduled by the course instructor will take place only during the listed day/hours. Online course candidates are required to be online as scheduled by the course instructor and posted in the course Calendar
iii) Course candidates have unrestricted access (time/day) to work on their course(s).

Prior to the first week of courses, all candidates will receive a confirmation of application for registration. Candidates go to the University of Ottawa website Home Page www.uottawa.ca. From the Home Page candidates go to http://maestro.uottawa.ca . Candidates enter both their User Identification # (Student #) and their Password (Infoweb Password). These actions take the candidate to the course site.

Course candidates who need assistance with situations related to the technical aspects of an online course are invited to call the university Help Line at 613 562 5800 ext 6555. For assistance related to the course content, candidates should contact the course instructor. If further clarification is needed, or program consultation is required, course
candidates should contact the Coordinator of Professional Development Programs: Denis Vaillancourt. Tel: 613 562 5800 ext. 4095, or Email: dvailla3@uottawa.ca.

As in the face-to-face model, the Ontario College of Teachers requires course candidates to complete 125 hours of work (online interaction time, reading/researching, small-group work, completion of assignments) for the successful achievement of a 6 credit Additional Qualifications (AQ), Additional Basic Qualifications (ABQ) or Honour Specialist course. Please note, that since all modules must be completed and because interaction is integral to the successful completion of the course, candidates are not able to compress learning into fewer weeks.

No. There are no face-to-face meetings. The course is fully online. Course candidates achieve marks by completing a Demonstration of Learning for each of the course’s modules, therefore, there is no final exam. Please note that for French Second Language Part I, all candidates, other than those who have completed their undergraduate and/or Teacher Education Program in french at the University of Ottawa , are presently required to come to the Faculty of Education in order to complete the Test de compétence linguistique.

Yes, the PDP at the University of Ottawa offers online courses in both French and English. To view an updated list of all courses offered by the PDP, please visit: http://www.education.uottawa.ca/programs/pdp.html

The cost for both online and face-to-face six credit AQ, ABQ or Honour Specialist courses is the same regardless of the method of delivery.