School's in for summer

April 19, 2010 1:36 PM

Need advice re: distance/online courses in Canada.

As background: I need to take a course this summer (Industrial Organization) which is a pre-req for a bunch of classes I would like to take in the Fall. The course will not be offered again until the winter semester in my school, and I want to graduate in the spring.

Problems: I'm in Toronto. Ryerson and York have both cancelled their summer school/con ed IO courses. U of T has yet to confirm whether they'll let me in to their summer course. Athabasca does not offer this particular course. Are there any other (legit!) distance or online schools, or other options?

Thanks!

posted by smallvictories to Education (6 answers total)

I live in Canada but am taking distance Ed uni course through a uk university. My classes are recognized in Canada. There are a lot of open and distance Ed classes in the uk, son hopefully you can find a match.
posted by saucysault at 1:40 PM on April 19, 2010

If it's a pre-req for courses you want to take later, you really, really need to be sure it will be recognized for credit at your home school (the one offering those other courses you need). Speak to an advisor there in your department. Some schools are really stingy about recongizing the credit at other institutions (even if they are totally legit, recognized schools)!

That said, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada is a good place to start, because any Canadian school not on their list definitely won't be accepted by your home school.
posted by Kurichina at 3:44 PM on April 19, 2010

You could try Thompson Rivers University. Very new University (est. 2006) but fully accredited, and they seem to have a large distance education program.
posted by sockpup at 3:59 AM on April 20, 2010

Response by poster: Hey thanks, sockpup and Kurichina! I'm not finding the precise class I need, but your links are helpful for Fall semester.

Aaaand, I'm a bit nervous about taking non-Canadian classes for a pre-req, saucysault, but I'll look into your suggestion for electives.
posted by smallvictories at 7:50 AM on April 20, 2010

It's not clear to me whether you're asking for distance-learning classes because you'd prefer them or because you've exhausted all the nearby public-university options. If it's the latter, and with the caveat that I have no idea whether they actually offer the class you need: check out McMaster, in Hamilton.

You can catch a GO bus from Union Station Toronto directly down the QEW/403 corridor to Mac (the bus then makes a few other stops in east Hamilton, terminating at the GO Station in downtown Hamilton). Departures are at least hourly; $8 one way, $16 return, last I used it, and it is (fairly reliably) about a 50-minute one-way commute. It's worth checking out if (as I'm imagining) you'd only be making the trip once a week.
posted by tivalasvegas at 9:59 AM on April 20, 2010

Oh, I guess along the same lines you might also consider Guelph -- I think there's GO service between there and Union Station but I have no idea about the cost, length of commute or proximity of stops to the University there.
posted by tivalasvegas at 10:08 AM on April 20, 2010