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Innovating to improve teaching
OTTAWA, February 7, 2014 — What do you get when you combine online learning with traditional courses and replace classroom teaching with interactive learning activities? The answer: blended learning, a teaching model that is gaining ground.
Today, the University of Ottawa will receive over $500,000 to help fund four innovative projects, including one that aims to create some 1000 blended learning courses over the next five years. These courses promise to offer students a content-rich, varied and flexible learning experience.
The Blended Learning Initiative, a large-scale project launched by the University a few months ago, will benefit from $335,000 in funding from the Ontario government’s Productivity and Innovation Fund. This funding will help professors design, or convert to, blended learning courses that combine classroom teaching and online activities.
“In blended courses, students take on a more active role in their learning” said University of Ottawa President and Vice-Chancellor Allan Rock. “We firmly believe in the benefits of this innovative style of teaching and this Ontario government funding will help us provide our professors with the tools and assistance they need to design blended courses.”
The total funding envelope of over $600,000 from the Productivity and Innovation Fund will also help finance two projects that aim to improve the University’s evaluation methods. The first will create online tools to help professors develop lesson plans and evaluate their students’ learning. The second project will implement a methodology to more accurately assess the viability of current or future programs.
Finally, international student admission processes will be improved: the University of Ottawa, in partnership with most other Ontario universities, has been granted over $100,000 to find ways to more efficiently process international student application documents.
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Information for media:
Caroline Milliard
Manager, Media Relations
University of Ottawa
Cell. : 613-240-0275
caroline.milliard@uOttawa.ca
