Educators optimistic that students, teachers adjusting to new reality
Ontario schools have been shuttered since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The provincial government recently announced that the earliest they will open is May 31.
Premier Doug Ford acknowledged that these are challenging times, but pledged to support school boards and families.
“It is critical that during this time, kids keep learning. Education must continue,”said Ford.
The Ministry of Education initially responded with grade-appropriate, on-line student resources for math and literacy though its Learn at Home portal, and a period of self-directed learning followed…meaning nominal or non-existent teacher involvement. Students and their parents surfed through the material as best they could, afloat in a sea of educational websites and apps shaped by teachers, curriculum specialists, and tech gurus.
To assist families that lacked computers and online access, some 20,000 iPads and internet accounts were made available to school boards.
Did real learning occur? Perhaps for some…doubtful for many others. Without the structure of the classroom and a vigilant teacher, many students likely poked around a bit on the internet, found the occasional quasi-educational amusement, and then refocused on Instagram and Snapchat.
Special-needs students, and those from families low on the socio-economic spectrum, probably got the least benefit. It’s hard to take advantage of on-line learning when a student is sharing a laptop with siblings, or has an unreliable internet connection.
On April 6, phase two of the province’s plan kicked in for two million students, which involved teacher-led learning, and both live and pre-recorded lessons via cloud-based, learning management platforms. The Ministry is recommending elementary students spend five to 10 hours on learning each week (depending on their age), with semestered high school students encouraged to commit to three hours per course per week (twelve hours in total for a four-course load).
Some students (and parents) engaged in this next step have expressed difficulties navigating the e-learning platform, be it Google Classroom, Zoom, MS Teams, D2L-Brightspace, or some other software. It’s also a big learning curve for most teachers. School boards are urging patience as everyone adapts to the new reality.
What is the current state of online learning in Niagara?
Kim Yielding, Chief Communications Officer for the District School Board of Niagara, said that the public board launched its DSBN - Learn From Home website on March 27, which was update weekly with new learning activities and resources for students. Teacher-led instruction online began officially on April 6th.
To give students extra support in math and science, the DSBN Homework Help Program was expanded to provide students with one-on-one support with a teacher online. To assist families that were having difficulty logging in to the online system, DSBN created a support area for parents on its website. Last month, thousands of Chromebooks—a low-cost, limited performance laptop— were distributed to students lacking computers, along with three-month internet packages.
A similar path has been taken by the local taxpayer-funded, faith-based school system. Jennifer Pellegrini, Communications Officer for the Niagara Catholic District School Board, told the Voice that learning resources were added to their website in March for student use, followed by a Ministry-directed, teacher-led component in early April. A supply of 130 Samsung tablets valued at $50,000 was provided by the Niagara Foundation for Catholic Education last month, to augment the 1,200 Chromebooks which had already been loaned to students. The Foundation also designated $12,000 in internet access and grocery cards for disadvantaged families. An online portal to assist users struggling with the technology was launched just after Easter, and mental health and chaplaincy resources have been ramped up.
Students enrolled in the public and Catholic systems will receive year-end report cards in June. Graduating seniors have, for the most part, already submitted their college and university applications for fall entry, and teachers and guidance counsellors are continuing to support students with recommendation letters, supporting academic documents, and any other resources required to complete their applications. The Ministry has eased the burden of students who are graduating this June by waiving the OSSLT Literacy Assessment, and the 40 hours of Community Involvement requirements.
Here’s a snapshot of the efforts underway at three local schools serving Pelham students: E.L. Crossley (public), Notre Dame (Catholic), and Ridley College (private).
Janice Sargeant, Principal at E. L. Crossley, said that her teachers have designed online classrooms using two different platforms: D2L and Google Classroom. Teachers post lessons which may include instructional videos, readings, thinking questions, and various other academic tasks. Classes are designed so students have flexible login and work time.
“We recognize that many of our students have other obligations during the day, and the normal 8:10 AM - 2:15 PM model does not align with their needs,” said Sargeant. “Many of our students are working in essential service jobs. Each day, we highlight current students who are balancing school and work in the school’s Twitter and Instagram feeds.”Each day, we highlight current students who are balancing school and work in the school’s Twitter and Instagram feeds
Also found on Crossley’s homepage is an online learning support link for student and parents, that includes resources and tools as well as a connection to the DSBN homework help program. There are also quick links allowing students to book virtual appointments with teachers, counsellors, and administrators.
Sargeant noted that the school has deployed some 60 computer devices and helped some 20 local families with internet access thus far.
“These numbers are still growing, as people have been continuing to reach out. Students and families have been very appreciative, and have sent us wonderful thank you emails,” she said.
An E. L. Crossley Grade 11 honours student contacted by the Voice commented that he was handling the current arrangement quite well. He found D2L, the cloud-based software platform, to be easy to navigate, and remarked that the Ministry recommendation that students work at least three hours per course each week was not at all oppressive. Some of his Crossley classes were live-streamed, but most involved online postings by teachers of assignments and instructional videos.
Ken Griepsma, Principal at Notre Dame, said that his school was primarily using the Google Classroom platform to distribute lessons on video and to receive questions from students, along with the NCVLE (Niagara Catholic Virtual Learning Environment), which is the local version of the Ministry’s VLE (Virtual Learning Environment).
A feature of Google Classroom allows the teacher to include guardians (usually parents) in their classroom, providing them with a weekly summary of their child’s lessons, activities, assignments, and work outstanding. This helps keep parents informed.
“Students and parents have been fairly receptive to our efforts to provide teacher-led, remote, on-line learning,” said Griepsma. “However, it is a learning process for everyone. Feedback I have received from students, parents, and staff is that this mode of learning, while supportive, does not and cannot approach in-class instruction, and an opportunity for real-time communication back and forth. It does, however, give us some insight into how these technologies can be leveraged as a valuable support to in-class teaching and learning.”
Notre Dame staff were able to determine that some families did not have internet/wifi access, and many did not have an adequate device. The school initially distributed about 80 Chromebooks, and followed up more recently with an additional 40 for school families in need.
Griepsma said that his staff are working hard to ensure that all Notre Dame students remain engaged in the learning process. The school has been following up with families to ensure that they are able to access and complete classwork. Those students needing extra support are receiving additional attention.
“Our Special Education teachers and staff recently planned and carried out a drive-by parade to visit the homes of all of our students with special needs,” said Griepsma. “This was very uplifting for staff, the kids and their families.”This was very uplifting for staff, the kids and their families
The biggest private school in Niagara is Ridley College, in St. Catharines, which enrolls 700 boarding and day students, from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12. Of these, 370 are from the region, and 20 hail from Pelham. Ridley offers both the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) and the International Baccalaureate (IB).
Andrea Carisse, Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing at the college, told the Voice that the school had been preparing out of necessity for the impacts of COVID-19 since mid-January, given that hundreds of their students are international, with strong Chinese representation in the student body.
Ridley’s curriculum leaders and administration established a remote learning framework document “months ago,” and officially launched its Backbaud-based network, Ridley Remote Learning (R2L), on March 26.
“We intentionally use the term 'remote learning,' rather than 'online learning' or 'e-learning,' because we believe that quality learning can occur without solely relying on computers and technology. Our R2L goal is to advance student learning with authentic human experience,” said Carisse.
In addition to R2L, Ridley has an online home hub, TigerNet, which is updated daily. It includes class teaching plans, student learning objectives, and a brief summary of the educational activities taking place in each class, plus a plethora of learning tools. Faculty, staff and students connect via the Microsoft Teams platform for real-time lessons and collaboration. All teachers and students at Ridley use Macbook computers, integrated through a high-speed, wireless network.
Ed Kidd, Ridley’s headmaster, referred to the school’s program as, “A blended approach of synchronous (live classroom lessons via MS Teams) and asynchronous (online experiences, but not live sessions) learning.” Students in grades 9 to 12 are committed to at least five hours per day of school work, which is about twice the weekly hours recommended by the province’s Ministry of Education. All teachers offer four hours of remote office time per day, where students can receive one-to-one academic support.
Ridley students are still engaged a few times each week in clubs and activities, and participate in a daily fitness challenge. Kidd noted that the school is also hosting town hall meetings, with upwards of 100 parents participating in live sessions.
“We are learning a lot, and I am very proud of how our community — both faculty and students — has responded to the challenge,” said Kidd.
Geoff Park, a Ridley teacher with some three decades of classroom experience, said that most Ridley teachers post a short video introduction to asynchronous lessons, and use screen-sharing to assist students in real-time classes.
“Teachers and administrators are constantly meeting to discuss and refine course innovations and delivery, and we have really listened to student and parent feedback. Frankly, it is an exciting time to be a teacher,” said Park.
