A free course offering additional qualification to teachers in “Teaching and Learning through E-Learning” was fully subscribed just one day after it was announced, reports the Faculty of Education.

The course will be delivered entirely online during the spring semester, and was offered Thursday free of charge to the first 30 teachers from tri-county public and Catholic school boards.

“We wish to support our partner school boards, and the teachers within those boards and beyond, during a time of crisis in which everything school-related has gone (or will go) virtual,” said dean of education Ken Montgomery. “It is a small effort on our part to support the broad community of educators and the students they are entrusted to care for pedagogically.”

The faculty’s Continuing Teacher Education Program offers courses that help teachers develop their skills.

Marium Tolson-Murtty, co-ordinator of Continuing Teacher Education programs, said that two developments make the e-learning course particularly timely: a push by the Ontario government to require more online learning for high school students, and current measures to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

“Teachers will be looking for new ways to present course materials to their students,” she said.

Educators seeking professional development can also take advantage of discounted tuition for these related courses:

• AQ Integration of Information and Computer Technology in Instruction, Part 1 (Summer  2020, 20 per cent discount)
• AQ Integration of Information and Computer Technology in Instruction, Part 2 (Fall 2020, 20 per cent discount)
• AQ Integration of Information and Computer Technology in Instruction, Specialist (Winter 2021, 10 per cent discount)

Tolson-Murtty said the faculty will work with school boards on other ways to support teachers through innovative and accessible continuing teacher education.