The e-Learning Ontario Policy Document (PDF, 63 KB) contains the official, complete version of policies about the Ontario Educational Resource Bank and the provincial Learning Management System.

Using the Ontario Educational Resource Bank

Participating boards have access to thousands of digital resources in the Ontario Educational Resource Bank.

Boards determine the degree of access they provide to their teachers and students, and they issue user identifications and passwords. Students must be registered in a provincially funded school.

The materials in the Resource Bank are created by teachers to ensure they are relevant to Ontario classrooms. They are not formally approved by the Ministry of Education. Ultimately school boards evaluate and select materials for their schools.

For more information about the Resource Bank and to see samples of multimedia materials, check the Ontario Educational Resource Bank section of this web site.

Using the Learning Management System (LMS)

Boards that opt into the Ontario e-learning strategy may choose which online courses in the provincial LMS they want to offer to their students. They may also choose whether to accept e-learning students from other boards and whether to allow their own students to take e-learning courses from other boards.

If boards already have their own LMS, they may continue to use it. However, they may not use materials from the provincial LMS and the Ontario Educational Resource Bank in any other LMS or learning object repository. In addition, the only courses that may be delivered through the provincial LMS are those the Ministry has posted there.

The provincial LMS may not be used:

• for commercial or political purposes
• to generate revenue for the board, the school, or an individual user
• to conduct a course in a classroom where the teacher is providing face-to-face instruction in a virtual school.

Individual units, activities, and multimedia items from the courses are also available in the Ontario Educational Resource Bank. Teachers who have access to the Resource Bank may use these items in their classrooms.

For more information about courses and the LMS, and to view video clips about e-learning, check the Courses and Learning Management System section of this web site.

Teachers are invited to help build the Resource Bank by sharing resources they have developed, provided they meet copyright requirements. For information about copyright compliance, see the e-Learning Licence and Release Form in the Resource Bank.