Lambton College is set to play a key role in the development of electric vehicles as Ontario's transportation sector continues to evolve and grow.
The school has been awarded over $480,000 in provincial funding to support the “eBits for Everyone – Supporting EV and eMobility Awareness and Knowledge Development” project.
The money is part of the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network’s (OVIN) Regional Future Workforce (RFW) program.
Lambton College Director of Innovation Sandy Vascotto is thrilled to be able to expand upon the popular eBits program that was launched in 2021.
At the time, the college launched 60 Empowering Minds eBits grouped into 11 categories, including Education and Careers, Energy and Environment, and Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
"We're taking that funding to build 63 individual eBits covering individual topics," said Vascotto. "These eBits are free, online mini-courses that are less than an instructional hour long. They're available to absolutely everyone in a take what you need in a way that you want it type of way. These 63 new pieces are meant for various age brackets from Grades 5 and 6, 7 to 9, and 10 to 12. There are different topics relating to science and technology, the mindset associated with research, agriculture, electric vehicles, green energy and everything along those lines."
At the end of the mini-course, students complete a short knowledge check to unlock a printable Certificate of Completion.
Vascotto said more and more people seem to be shifting to online learning as they are able to gain knowledge at their own pace.
"That's a trend that we're absolutely seeing," he said. "We released our first eBits about two and a half years ago as a tool for the general public as a whole. We expected to get something to the effect of 500 registrations to turn it into a success. Here, two and a half years later, we have over 50,000 registrations from all across Ontario, Canada, and from 52 other countries as well."
Vascotto said there are a number of partners that make the program a success.
"From the company side, to the non-for-profit side, and to agencies that are supporting things like intellectual property development in Ontario, the Railway Association, YMCA and an awful lot of great partnerships which actually led to the strength of these modules," Vascotto said. "These things are really tied to the Ontario curriculum. They become, effectively, a free resource for educators who are looking to bring some of the most current topic areas to their classroom in a free and accessible way. It also aligns with provincial standards."
Vascotto said Lambton College's application to the Regional Future Workforce program received letters of support from the Lambton Kent District School Board and St. Clair Catholic District School Board, not-for-profit community organizations including Contact North | Contact Nord, and technology companies such as e-Zinc, QED Battery Corp, and TROES Corp.
Individuals can register for an eBits course at any time by visiting Lambton College's website.
