There are a number of reasons you may wish to take your learning online. Maybe you’re looking to advance your qualifications while working in your field, an on-campus offering may conflict with your already packed timetable, or you may be missing a degree requirement that you’d like to complete over the summer while working.

Whatever the reason, eCourses is your resource to study online through one of our partner universities or colleges in the province. The site is a helpful resource if you’re looking for some relevant online degree, certificate or diploma courses (even if you’re not already a student), to try out a few courses for interest’s sake, or even to earn a dual credit to count toward your high school diploma and a university degree.

While the purpose of learning online is to accommodate your schedule, there are still some best practices for making eCourses work for you. Below, we’ve rounded up some tips from our virtual help desk navigator, DawnDena Gordon, to make the process easier.

1. Ask the virtual help desk for help.

We may have buried the lead here, but since eCourses is a digital resource linking you to hundreds of courses available through our partner institutions, we’re happy to guide you through this process online.

Our virtual help desk is available during regular workday hours. In the evening, you can leave us an offline message so we can get back to you with a helpful response.

The best part? The help desk navigators have years of expertise working with students and our partner institutions in the province, and aren’t limited to our own resources.

“In most chats, we’re linking to other resources for students,” says Gordon. “Instead of trying to describe to you how to get somewhere, we can send you directly where you need to go – not necessarily on our site, but even other institutions’ sites.”

2. Give yourself plenty of time to gain approval for your online courses.

We have worked out plenty of efficiencies with our partner institutions, including waived fees and pre-arranged transfer agreements. However, if you’re a current student selecting an online course from an institution other than where you’re currently studying, you will need a letter of permission to signal your intent to complete a course elsewhere.

This letter is processed by your home institution, which can take anywhere from one to six weeks.

If you’re hoping to get approval just before a course starts, try to get this request in a couple months ahead to ensure you get in on time. After this letter of permission is approved, you’ll need to apply for visiting student status through the host institution, so play it safe and give yourself some breathing room for this all to get processed.

3. Save yourself some money.

If you’re looking for flexibility at no extra cost, you’re in the right place. Typically, there’s a cost to processing a letter of permission and visiting student application, but it’s waived when you submit the application through eCourses.

4. Build a wish list.

After you create an account with eCourses, you can start to save courses that interest you. You can use this bank of courses to help you open a discussion with your academic advisor and design the online and in-class courseload that will suit you and your goals best. 

5. Request your transcript.

Once you’ve wrapped up an online course, make sure to request your transcript from the institution you’re visiting so it can be transferred back to your home institution for course credit.

Loved studying online?

You can likely take another course at the same institution without completing another visiting student application. A letter of permission is probably all you need. Talk to our virtual help desk if you have any questions.

Hundreds of courses. One website. eCourses works with Manitoba’s public universities and colleges to connect students with online courses in many subjects. Our staff make this possible by supporting students every step of the way. Visit here to start browsing courses and see if online learning is right for you.