Frequently Asked Questions

Successful completion of the Online EAP Level 2 course will continue to meet the English language requirements for admission into undergraduate and graduate degree programs at Dalhousie University.

Just like the face-to-face EAP Program, in the Online EAP Program you will learn how to:

• Write academic texts, including research essays and reports
• Carry out research using the Dalhousie library and digital resources
• Apply strategies for more effective reading of academic texts
• Better understand and take notes in university lectures
• Prepare and deliver effective academic oral presentations
• Participate in seminars, tutorials and academic debates
• Develop advanced grammar and vocabulary skills, and the ability to edit and proofread your own writing

You will develop your academic English skills by doing some of the following:

• Participating in group discussions with your classmates via discussion boards
• Watching a video of your instructor explaining a grammar point and then doing online exercises to practice it
• Listening to a lecture practising taking effective notes
• Writing texts such as reports, essays, paragraphs, reflections, or blog posts by yourself or in groups
• Preparing an academic presentation and submitting a video of it
• Playing online games to practice new vocabulary
• Giving feedback on your own and your classmate’s work via peer and self-feedback
• Compiling a portfolio of your written and spoken work
• Reading an article and then doing an online quiz about the article to test your comprehension

The course will be based in Dalhousie University’s non-credit online learning platform called OpenDal. Built on the Brightspace platform, OpenDal allows you to do many things, such as:

• Receive documents and links from your instructor
• Watch videos, read articles or listen to lectures
• Submit documents, videos or other assignments for the course
• Complete exercises, tests and exams online
• See your grades and track your attendance for the course
• Participate in discussion boards

You will also connect with your instructor and classmates through

• Collaborate Ultra or Zoom, for live online classes, meetings with your teacher, or groupwork meetings with your classmates
• Email

Yes. You will use two digital textbooks: one for Reading and Writing and the other for Listening and Speaking. These textbooks have an interactive digital text, as well as online exercises and practice activities based on the book.

Most of the course content will be self-paced, which means you can do it according to your schedule. A small percentage of the course will be scheduled, which means the instructor and students all connect at the same time. These will be arranged to accommodate all students’ time zones.

No. The Online EAP courses are full time (30h/week) just like the face-to-face EAP courses. You will spend approximately 30 hours a week completing the course requirements, but you will not have to be connected to a live, virtual course for 30 hours.

Instead, you will spend these 30 hours completing different course work, activities, and assignments. A few of these hours might involve attending a live, virtual class, but most of them will involve different types of reading, writing, speaking, listening or research activities or assignments to be completed on your own or in collaboration with classmates.

Technical Requirements

The Online EAP Program consists of fully online courses. To participate in these courses, you will have to use a digital textbook, watch and record videos and audio files, create documents using Microsoft Word, use Dalhousie’s non-credit online learning platform (OpenDal), access the internet and other tasks. If you can’t do these tasks, you will not be able to complete the course. The technical requirements for EAP Online are:

• A desktop or laptop computer (Note: it is not possible to complete this course using only a cell phone)
• A reliable internet connection
• A webcam
• A microphone

Once you begin the course, you will gain access to the OpenDal online learning platform, as well as a free software download of the Microsoft Office suite.

OpenDal has the following browser requirements: