Online Learning
The digital world is breaking down boundaries and opening up more possibilities for a more meaningful life. Online education is just the beginning. Find your path today with UVM Professional and Continuing Education.
Log in to your online course at https://brightspace.uvm.edu with your netid. See the Summer University Students page if you need to activate your netid.
Online courses are becoming increasingly popular, but not all of them are created equal. You’ve probably spent a lot of time researching different online programs, comparing the pros and cons in search of one that is credible and fits your needs.
Online education with the University of Vermont comes with the assurance that you’re getting high-caliber and cutting-edge courses. We’ve been doing online education for over 20 years as an accredited university and offer more than 500 online courses to meet the needs of students across the world.
With PACE, you’ll stand out to employers with credentials backed by the reputation of one of the longest-running continuous education institutions in the U.S.
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We build expertly designed courses with research-proven educational tools to ensure your success. We specifically design each course with clear objectives to help you advance toward your educational goals. Before a course is launched, we complete a thorough quality check to make sure that the course meets our standards.
The instructors who teach online courses are experts in their field. UVM faculty include groundbreaking researchers and business entrepreneurs who all share a common passion for connecting with students and teaching you the lessons they have learned through years of experience.
We get it—you’re balancing a lot. That’s why we provide accelerated courses to allow you to quickly achieve your academic and professional goals, and short courses to help you focus,. That means concise, digestible topics, extensive access to instructors and materials, and lots of options for discussion and interaction with your fellow students.
We have a strong focus on course accessibility, which means you’ll have choices and alternatives to meet your learning needs. Tech support is only an email or phone call away.
When you take a course online at UVM, you’ll be interacting with instructors and students who share your interests and passion. You’ll be connected to the campus community with access to resources such as online lectures and events that can enhance your experience. Even after your course or program is finished,we help you maintain the connections you’ve built while also helping you to forge new ones. Some of our programs offer social media opportunities to connect, while others have targeted online community sites that welcome new members constantly.
Online courses (classes that do not require your presence on campus) are offered within our Learning Management System (LMS). All the course-related materials—syllabi, readings, presentations and lecture notes, assignments, discussion boards, tests, and more—are contained and organized within the LMS website.
For an online course, there are no in-person meetings. You do not generally need to log into the class on a specific day or at a specific time each week. However, there are assignments and other activities with due dates, including regular participation and contribution on the discussion boards.
You can expect to spend 5-10 hours a week on course-related readings, assignments and discussions, depending on the type of course or program you choose. Expectations are clearly communicated on our website and in syllabi so that you can best plan your time.
Online courses at UVM use technologies that provide you with a richer, more interactive experience. You can connect to any of these tools directly from your Learning Management System (LMS) course space. Your instructor will provide more information on how to best use these tools. Some of the tools you may see in your online course include the following:
Microsoft Teams is available to all classes and offers chat across multiple channels, collaborative file editing, and web conferencing with your instructor and other students. If your courses use any of these technologies, Microsoft Teams will be linked directly from within the course in Brightspace and your instructor will provide more information.
Yellowdig is a platform used for social media-like discussion within some UVM courses. This tool, which allows you to comment, upvote, @mention, and share videos just like you do in your favorite social media apps.
Flip is a quick and easy way to reflect upon, discuss, and showcase what you are learning, making, reading, solving, and experiencing. Upload easy-to-make videos showcasing your work.
Your instructor may be posting video snippets using ScreenPal to help you understand a concept, respond to a common misunderstanding, or demonstrate how to solve a problem. All video content has captions to help you understand.
Ally helps to make sure that content is accessible to everyone.
With VoiceThread, you can create, share, and comment on images, Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, videos, audio files, documents, and PDFs, using microphone, webcam, text, phone, and audio file upload. The comments are in the context of the presentation, so you can better understand everyone’s perception of the topic.
Online classes offer so many benefits! One of the most important ones is that you can work on your own time and at your own speed while adhering to course deadlines. You don’t need to worry about driving, parking, or missing work to attend your course. Instead, you can concentrate on how best to arrange your week in order to manage your workload. Another nice benefit is the ability to re-read and re-watch lecture materials as many times as you’d like to fully digest the materials. One of the best elements of online classes is the deep, meaningful connections students build with their instructors and fellow students—connections that we often see outlast the duration of the courses themselves.
No. UVM online courses are asynchronous, which means that students do not have to log into the course at the same time. However, there are specific due dates and times when assignments, discussion activities, and tests will be due.
Some courses offer “live” sessions where instructors and students can meet via online communication tools. These sessions, if held, are always recorded so that you may listen in later, if need be. For the most online courses, though, you do not need to be present at any specific dates or times.
There are numerous ways in which you may be expected to communicate with your classmates and your professor. Depending on the course, you may use a variety of tools within the Learning Management System (LMS) to interact. In some courses, you will work collaboratively with your classmates to complete group projects. Your course may also have optional scheduled meeting times using web-conferencing systems. Your course syllabus will contain all communication guidelines and expectations.
If the course is a hybrid/blended course, there may be on-campus or virtual meeting times as a required part of the course. For hybrid/blended courses, all meeting times are listed in the course registration information. Your course syllabus will also list all scheduled meeting times.
Online courses are neither harder nor easier than on-campus courses. UVM’s online courses are often taught by the same professors and lecturers teaching the same course on campus. You can absolutely expect the same quality of instruction as well as the same rigorous course material and workload. Like on-campus courses, having strong time and study management skills can mean the difference between succeeding or struggling in your online course. Our instructors and staff are here to assist you throughout your online learning experience, including offering insight and advice to help you develop a plan to keep you on the road to success.
You may also see courses listed as hybrid/blended. As with our online courses, all course-related materials, syllabi, readings, lecture notes, assignments, and discussion boards are contained and organized within the Learning Management System. The only difference is that a portion of your class occurs online, and another portion takes place in a face-to-face setting. Specific details around meeting times are published on the Professional and Continuing Education website.
Assignments vary with each program. You can expect to see a wide variety of creative assessments, depending on the subject matter. In general, you might see discussion activities, journals, papers, quizzes and tests, as well as creative endeavors like projects and presentations.
At a minimum, online students need access to a computer and internet connection. See the recommended system requirements. Specific programs may have requirements for software. These are listed in the course syllabus or program description.
Advising and Student Support
We are dedicated to helping you access UVM. It is our role to get to know your experience and goals, assist you in choosing courses, guide you through registration, and serve as your resource throughout your time at UVM.
Curious if your past college credits apply at UVM? Want to understand where a program will take you after completion? Looking for resources for financial aid, tutors, or UVM policies? We’re here to help.
