UBC is first off the block with a 100 per cent online version of its innovative and award-winning Certificate in Internet Marketing Program, launched on campus in 1997, and considered to be the first of its kind in North America. The Online version goes a step further. The Internet becomes the textbook and learning is by doing, not just by reading and listening. To date, UBC's online sessions have drawn applicants from Canada, the United States, France, Egypt, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Learning is conducted through a password protected Website that offers lectures, course notes, guest speakers, technology labs, discussion assignments, individual and team projects as well as links to relevant resources.
Students interact with one another and with experienced online instructors and tutors.
To accommodate the different time zones of students, a suitable schedule for real-time chat sessions must be carefully arranged. That's 9 p.m. in the east and 12 noon in Asia. UBC's Online Internet Marketing Program is offered several times throughout the year. Enrolment is limited to 20 students per session. The Internet Marketing Program, presented by UBC Continuing Studies and UBC Centre of Management Development, has won the 1999 Program Award of Excellence from the Canadian Association for University Continuing Education and the 1999 Innovative Programming Award from the University Continuing Education Association.