The public system, on the other hand, failed in its response to Covid-19
As Ontario’s public schools struggle to accommodate students in a new school year amid what could be a fourth wave of COVID-19, what can the provincial government learn from the last 17 months? For starters, the government needs to accept that huge, industrial-scale schools (typical in the public system) are pretty weak at responding to…
Safe, successful learning are top priority as nearly 36,000 students converge on U of A campus
The eagerly anticipated first day of the University of Alberta’s 113th school year will see students welcomed back on campuses for the first time since the pandemic began almost 18 months ago. “I have been looking forward to the arrival of students with great anticipation,” said U of A president Bill Flanagan. “I know many…
Perspectives gained during pandemic could improve ongoing communication to support students
The COVID-19 pandemic caused major upheaval, sending students home to remote learning and leaving teachers and parents scrambling to adapt. But it also created the opportunity for a deeper appreciation of their respective roles and challenges, according to a study led by a University of Alberta researcher. “It afforded everyone the chance to understand what others were…
The program gives students in Grades 4 to 9 a week-long exposure to life on campus
There isn’t usually a chorus of sad students saying “Noooooo!” on the last day of class, but University of Alberta U School organizer Michaela Mann was thrilled when she heard it last fall. That reaction to the end of their class showed just how much the youngsters loved the program, despite having to go virtual during the…
200,000 young people have lost complete touch with their schools
There are fewer students at my school this year. There are also fewer disciplinary issues, but it has become even more difficult to establish and maintain contact with our at-risk students and their families. I didn’t realize until recently, however, that this is a global issue. There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted…
In the midst of a pandemic, home-schooling is an important option. And tutor-led neighbourhood schools can help fill the curriculum gaps
Many parents are frustrated by the limited educational choices their children have right now. For example, a recent article in the Calgary Herald (“Parents regretting in-person classes with no options to go online”), suggests that parents are concerned about sending their children to school. They’re equally concerned by the lack of spaces in online courses…
Tens of thousands of new students from nearly every country in the world have joined Dan Levy in relearning history from Indigenous perspectives
Since its launch in 2017, the massive open online course Indigenous Canada has been among the most popular MOOCs in Canada. But in 2020, its popularity skyrocketed. “It all started in March with COVID,” said course instructor Paul Gareau. “Normally around 300 new students register each week, but in March we started getting around 1,000. Then, when…
Especially if they already struggled with reading before COVID-19
Last spring’s COVID-19 school closures put young, struggling readers further behind in their skills – and the situation won’t get better unless there are changes to online and at-home instruction, suggests a University of Alberta reading expert. A comparison of reading ability scores among students in Grades 1 to 3 in a sampling of Alberta…
Regardless of how COVID-19 plays out, post-secondary institutions won’t go back to full-frontal classroom instruction
We still don’t know much about how the pandemic will affect our lives through the rest of 2020 and into 2021. But some things, like the impact on post-secondary education, are certain. As new and continuing post-secondary students are already aware, their education in the 2020-21 academic year will be delivered mainly, if not entirely,…
Why do we try to force kids into the same educational mould – especially when we have the technology to do things differently?
With school districts in some parts of Canada drafting plans to reopen, it’s time we ask: What have we learned about education from the days our school buildings were closed? We might say we’ve learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that there’s a lot more good out there than we’d have hoped to imagine – a…