Teachers’ concerns with synchronous learning

In recent days, the minister of education has been busy trying to make the case for “synchronous learning,” by which he means teacher-led instruction with, ideally, an entire class present in a live, online environment.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) has raised a number of concerns about synchronous learning, both publicly through media interviews and formally to ministry of education officials. We’ve raised these concerns, not because we are averse to the adoption of new approaches, but rather in the hopes that these concerns would be considered and addressed so that potential problems could be avoided.

Unfortunately, some commentators have completely misunderstood and mischaracterized our position. This kind of misrepresentation is an insult to all of our efforts to do what’s best for students in a time of crisis.

OSSTF/FEESO does not oppose synchronous online learning, but we do oppose it being mandated. One reason for this is that synchronous learning simply won’t work for all students. Some students don’t have access to the necessary technology. Others are forced to share the required devices with other members of their households, and so their access is sporadic.

But beyond concerns about equitable access, there are other legitimate risks to be contemplated, not the least of which are privacy and security. This is not, as characterized by one commentator, a trite concern “that someone other than a student is going to accidentally see a Grade 10 math lesson.” The author may not have been so dismissive had their son or daughter been exposed to pornographic images and untraceable racist and misogynist statements, as occurred in one synchronous class.

Just last week, the minister of education himself gave us an unintended lesson on how easily privacy can be breached in an online environment when he inadvertently published, to his 32,000 followers on Twitter, a screen capture revealing not just the faces, but the names of an entire group of elementary students participating in a synchronous class. The image was quickly replaced with one in which the names had been hidden, but in his effort to promote synchronous learning, the minister succeeded in demonstrating one of its weaknesses.

Synchronous learning is one tool available to educators during this pandemic. In some cases, if access and privacy issues can be addressed, it may well be the best tool available. But in other cases, it will not be.

Front-line educators know that a onesize-fits-all approach doesn’t work in a physical classroom and they know that it won’t work in a distance learning environment, either. In the midst of an unprecedented global health crisis, students and families need the flexibility to access emergency remote learning in a way that works for them. And educators are in the best position to assess, develop and support a distance-learning program that works for their students.

OSSTF/FEESO has neither encouraged nor discouraged our members when it comes to adopting a synchronous learning approach. We have asked them instead to apply their best professional judgment based on the needs of their students.

The position we’ve taken and the concerns we’ve raised have nothing to do with our past battles with the current government. We have repeatedly and sincerely stated, both to the Ministry of Education and to school boards, our desire to work collaboratively in students’ best interests.

When Minister Stephen Lecce released his memo insisting on the adoption of synchronous learning, he did so late on a Friday afternoon with no forewarning. With tactics like that, it is the minister’s willingness to collaborate that should be called into question, not OSSTF/FEESO’s or our members’ — the front-line educators who are making extraordinary efforts every day to innovate, to deliver curriculum, and to provide other crucial supports to students in these trying times.