Independent Learning Centre
Encyclopedia
The Independent Learning Centre (ILC) is the Canadian province of Ontario's designated provider of distance education
and the exclusive provider of General Educational Development (GED) Testing in Ontario
.
The ILC has a mandate from the Ontario Ministry of Education to provide: an alternative source of public education
in English
and French
, complementing the traditional system for students who want or need independent study options, services that are complementary and equivalent to public school boards such as delivering credit courses, providing student support and granting the Ontario Secondary School Diploma
(OSSD), technology-enhanced education using new media to deliver online learning resources and facilitate student support in a blended learning
format, and GED Testing
Students may earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma through ILC study. Courses are available in all pathways: Academic, Applied and Open for Grades 9 and 10, College Preparation, University Preparation, Workplace Preparation and Open for Grades 11 and 12. The ILC can help students arrange to complete the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test
and community involvement activities.
, science
, reading
, writing
and critical thinking
skills. The Independent Learning Centre offers the GED Testing at locations around Ontario.
The ILC provides free learning and homework resources, accessed at the ILC web site, including Ask a Teacher a program of online tutoring by certified Ontario teachers & librarians, in addition to research tools, an online scientific calculator
, interactive periodic table
, a science and mathematics glossary and virtual seminars.
Canadian New Media Award for Excellence in Education. 2007
Award of Excellence, Association for Media Technology in Education in Canada. 2005
Award of Excellence for Leveraging Technology to Enhance Education, Showcase Ontario Delivering IT as an Enabler Awards. 2001
. A "Railway School Car Program" serving children in isolated areas but along railway lines was also established that year. “the teacher and his family lived on the train car, which was part of CP Rail... They went from stop to stop, teaching the children of miners and loggers who lived in communities along the railway tracks.” The programs had a common objective - to bring education to children in isolated communities.
By the 1950s, the correspondence course program had expanded to include a complete set of secondary school courses allowing for students to receive a high school diploma entirely through distance education.
On April 1, 2002, the ILC was transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Ontario Educational Communications Authority which also operates TVOntario
.
In recent years the ILC has evolved its service offering to include the latest software and internet-based delivery techniques. The ILC serves approximately 20,000 Ontarians a year, and learners can do all their coursework either offline, online or a combination of both.
Distance education
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...
and the exclusive provider of General Educational Development (GED) Testing in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
The ILC has a mandate from the Ontario Ministry of Education to provide: an alternative source of public education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, complementing the traditional system for students who want or need independent study options, services that are complementary and equivalent to public school boards such as delivering credit courses, providing student support and granting the Ontario Secondary School Diploma
Ontario Secondary School Diploma
The Ontario Secondary School Diploma is a diploma granted to high school graduates in the province of Ontario.-Diploma requirements:The Ontario Academic Credit system applies to students from Grades 9 through 12...
(OSSD), technology-enhanced education using new media to deliver online learning resources and facilitate student support in a blended learning
Blended learning
Blended learning refers to a mixing of different learning environments. It combines traditional face-to-face classroom methods with more modern computer-mediated activities. According to its proponents, the strategy creates a more integrated approach for both instructors and learners. Formerly,...
format, and GED Testing
Courses
The Independent Learning Centre offers Ontario Ministry of Education approved distance education courses including high-school credit courses, credit and non-credit courses in English as a Second Language (ESL).Students may earn an Ontario Secondary School Diploma through ILC study. Courses are available in all pathways: Academic, Applied and Open for Grades 9 and 10, College Preparation, University Preparation, Workplace Preparation and Open for Grades 11 and 12. The ILC can help students arrange to complete the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test
Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test
The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test is a compulsory standardized test for high school students in Ontario who wish to obtain the Ontario Secondary School Diploma. It was established in 2001 by the Conservative government...
and community involvement activities.
GED Testing
GED Testing permits adults, aged 18 and over, who have been out of school for more than one year, and not completed high school the opportunity to demonstrate that they have acquired the knowledge and skills associated with, and comparable to high school completion. To earn the GED Ontario High School Equivalency Certificate a candidate must complete a series of tests covering mathematicsMathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, reading
Reading (process)
Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of constructing or deriving meaning . It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas...
, writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
and critical thinking
Critical thinking
Critical thinking is the process or method of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false, or sometimes true and sometimes false, or partly true and partly false. The origins of critical thinking can be traced in Western thought to the Socratic...
skills. The Independent Learning Centre offers the GED Testing at locations around Ontario.
Educational Services
The ILC provides prior learning assessment and recognition advice for mature students (PLAR), to assist adult learners in acquiring credits by having their prior learning experiences, gained outside of an Ontario high school, assessed and recognized as equivalent to Ontario secondary school credits.The ILC provides free learning and homework resources, accessed at the ILC web site, including Ask a Teacher a program of online tutoring by certified Ontario teachers & librarians, in addition to research tools, an online scientific calculator
Scientific calculator
A scientific calculator is a type of electronic calculator, usually but not always handheld, designed to calculate problems in science, engineering, and mathematics...
, interactive periodic table
Periodic table
The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular display of the 118 known chemical elements organized by selected properties of their atomic structures. Elements are presented by increasing atomic number, the number of protons in an atom's atomic nucleus...
, a science and mathematics glossary and virtual seminars.
Awards
Outstanding Achievement Award, Education category, Interactive Media Awards. 2010Canadian New Media Award for Excellence in Education. 2007
Award of Excellence, Association for Media Technology in Education in Canada. 2005
Award of Excellence for Leveraging Technology to Enhance Education, Showcase Ontario Delivering IT as an Enabler Awards. 2001
History and Origins
The ILC was founded in 1926 when Ontario's Department of Education established correspondence courses for elementary school children living in isolated communities in northern OntarioNorthern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
. A "Railway School Car Program" serving children in isolated areas but along railway lines was also established that year. “the teacher and his family lived on the train car, which was part of CP Rail... They went from stop to stop, teaching the children of miners and loggers who lived in communities along the railway tracks.” The programs had a common objective - to bring education to children in isolated communities.
By the 1950s, the correspondence course program had expanded to include a complete set of secondary school courses allowing for students to receive a high school diploma entirely through distance education.
On April 1, 2002, the ILC was transferred from the Ministry of Education to the Ontario Educational Communications Authority which also operates TVOntario
TVOntario
TVOntario, often referred to only as TVO , is a publicly funded, educational English-language television station and media organization in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario...
.
In recent years the ILC has evolved its service offering to include the latest software and internet-based delivery techniques. The ILC serves approximately 20,000 Ontarians a year, and learners can do all their coursework either offline, online or a combination of both.