The Ministry of Education has released new graduation requirements for students relating to e-learning. The purpose is to provide students with access to a wider variety of courses, increase digital fluency and gain transferable skills to support lifelong learning.
What you need to know:
- Beginning with the students who entered Grade 9 in 2020-21 (current Grade 10 students), all students, including those attending OCVSS, must earn a minimum of two e-learning credits in order to graduate with an OSSD. Note: Credits earned through OCVSS do not apply to this new e-learning graduation requirement.
- Students in certificate pathways are exempted from this requirement.
- Students currently in grades 11 and 12 (in-person or OCVSS) are also exempt from this new requirement.
- Students who were in Grade 9 in 2020-21 (current Grade 10 students) will receive one e-learning credit in recognition of their pandemic learning experiences.
- Students/families may opt-out of the e-learning graduation requirement. In order to opt out of this requirement, please complete this opt-out form.
- Adult learners entering in 2023-24 or later will be required to complete the e-learning requirement unless they opt out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Last update: February 24, 2022
Which students are impacted by this new graduation requirement?
Current grade 10 students and below are subject to this new requirement. Current grade 10 students will receive 1 eLearning credit due to their experiences with pandemic learning.
Current grade 11 and 12 students are exempted from this requirement and do not need to complete the opt-out form.
Are the eLearning courses in addition to the credits that students currently need to graduate, or do they replace existing credits?
The eLearning credits are included as part of the 30 credits required to graduate with an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). Students will take 28 credits in-person and 2 credits through eLearning, for a total of 30 credits.
What does it mean to “opt-out” of the eLearning credits?
By “opting-out”, students are indicating that they do not want to participate in the eLearning graduation requirement. These students will complete all 30 of their credits in-person.
We [student and family], have already mapped out the course selections right through the graduation. Is there any reason they should consider taking the eLearning courses instead of those they have planned?
Student course selections are individual choice and can be changed if plans or course offerings change. In some schools, not all of the eLearning courses are offered in-person so the eLearning course offerings may provide more choice and broader learning opportunities. However, there is not a requirement to change if students choose to opt-out.
Have the universities/colleges provided any indication on how eLearning courses might be viewed vs. in-person courses for entrance?
There has been no indication that the eLearning courses will be considered any differently from in-person courses.
My child is attending at OCVSS (Virtual school). Does his/her experience in virtual school count as eLearning?
No, it does not. The Ministry has identified an eLearning course as one that is asynchronous (independent learning). OCV is a synchronous model of learning and therefore does not qualify.
- E-learning courses are delivered asynchronously and cannot include those earned through in-person learning (same e-learning course and same educator together), blended learning, or remote learning (includes part synchronous learning).