Audio books to history: students go online

Ottawa’s largest school board has posted several dozen online resources to help elementary and high school students learn at home while classes are cancelled for an indefinite period because of COVID-19.

The resources published Tuesday by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board include everything from math games to levelled readers, virtual museum tours, audio books and drawing tutorials.

They are in addition to the “learn at home” online resources from Ontario’s Education Ministry to help students practise math and literacy skills while they are out of school.

Schools in the province have been ordered closed until April 6, but Ontario Premier Doug Ford said this week that won’t happen Education Minister Stephen Lecce hasn’t announced when schools will reopen. Ford says the government relies on the advice of the province’s chief medical officer of health.

At most school boards, students would have returned to class from March break this week.

Teachers and other educators were back on the job working from home on Monday. Each school board is scrambling to figure out how to deploy staff and help students to continue to learn either online or using other methods.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board posted online resources in math, language arts, science, social studies, phys-ed and art for all age levels, including some provided free by companies that usually charge for their products.

The provincial learn-at-home resources, at the elementary level, focus heavily on math and science.

For high school students, the province has 23 online courses including English, math, science, business and history, and another 15 courses “coming soon.” The courses follow the Ontario curriculum but are not for credit. They are intended to help students “review, refresh and extend their learning” independently, according to the Education Ministry.

As of midday Tuesday, the provincial learn-at-home website had been viewed 1.5 million times, said Lecce’s spokesperson.

One challenge acknowledged by educators is how to help students who don’t have a device or internet access at home.

“The OCDSB is looking into this matter and will work with the ministry so all students can have access to learning resources during this time,” said the board in a statement.

It’s not yet clear how that will happen.

All schools have computers — in Ottawa, Chromebooks are common — so one possibility is lending them to students who need one, but that’s a complicated enterprise in the middle of a pandemic.

In an open letter to parents on Monday, Lecce said the province is “working with school boards to ensure students that currently do not have access to computers gain the technology needed to participate” in online resources.

The province is preparing for school closures beyond April 6, Lecce said. That includes making sure students continue their coursework and accumulation of credits, even if it’s not in a classroom.

At the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, the focus when staff returned to work on Monday was to “reconnect with all employees and to ensure their wellness and establish some practices for working from home,” the board said in a statement.

“These are unusual times and finding effective solutions will take our collective effort. We have asked all of our teachers, principals and staff how we can best support student learning and well-being. We are fortunate to have almost 10,000 dedicated employees and we are getting lots of good input.”

More information will be given to parents in the coming days. In the meantime, students and parents are welcome to contact their school principals or teachers by email with any “urgent questions or concerns,” said the statement.