Grace Bayliss, head of the English department at Horizons Secondary School, said she’s spoken to other teachers who have said the biggest challenge adjusting to online schooling is quickly learning different softwares like Zoom and Google Classroom on short notice. Photo submitted by Grace Bayliss
By Ryan Peddigrew [1]
BELLEVILLE — Quinte area parents, educators and students are adjusting to at-home learning with the COVID-19 pandemic in full effect.
The government of Ontario announced the temporary shutdown of publicly funded schools [2] on March 12. The schools have not reopened since in light of the pandemic’s continuous growth. The government quickly announced an online education curriculum for students who are now out of school.
Michelle Radic, a mother of three who lives with her husband and best friend in Frankford, said she’s fortunate that the transition online with her two school aged children has been relatively easy.
Radic has been using the government’s online curriculum to teach her six-year-old and her eight-year-old for two weeks. She said the hardest part was getting into a daily routine for her children, who she said both miss being at school.
“We’re working and learning what’s working for us. My husband is helping our oldest and I’m helping our middle child. That way they’re just learning at their own grade level,” she said, adding “It’s a reasonable amount of work,”
She said when she’s talked to other parents transitioning to online course delivery they’ve said the biggest challenge for them is trying to teach their children while also trying to work from home. Radic is lucky, she said, because she is a stay-at-home mom.
Radic said they start the morning with breakfast and then she lets her children have free time. Afterwards, she said, they get to work on the day’s curriculum which is usually finished by the early afternoon. When they aren’t spending time hitting the books, they play board games, watch movies and play in the yard, said Radic.
While Radic has taken the role of teacher at home, other educators are still doing their roles, but from a distance.
Grace Bayliss is the head of the English department at Horizons Secondary School [3] in Trenton, a private international school that teaches Chinese students.
Bayliss, who is originally from Prince Edward County but now lives with her husband in Trenton, has taught at Horizons Secondary School for six years. She says they closed their doors shortly after the public schools did and moved to online course delivery using the government’s curriculum and delivering it via Zoom and Google Classroom.
Bayliss said the small number of students at the school has been advantageous for smooth delivery of online courses, but it has nonetheless been a learning curve for both students and teachers alike.
“The problem is, it’s just uncertain times and it’s really taking a toll on both the students and teacher’s mental health,” she said, “A lot of teachers don’t get into teaching for the money. They get in because they love kids, and when you’re not seeing your students every day that’s hard,”
Bayliss said that at this point, for many teachers and students throughout the province, there are more questions than answers in regards to whether or not the school year will be extended.
While young children have their parents to guide them, many college and university students have to do the adjusting themselves as post-secondary education in Ontario has also been moved online.
Jacob Short, who is studying electrical technique at Loyalist College, said the situation is not ideal, but not unmanageable. He said his biggest concern is his hands-on program being delivered online.
“If you don’t know how to troubleshoot a machine on the spot then you’re pretty much useless to an employer. I don’t know how I would feel comfortable in the workforce once this is over without having hands-on experience,” said Short.
He added that he has adjusted fairly well to online learning despite the lack of the hands-on element.
Short said he would be surprised if students were back on campus for regular course delivery come September, even adding that he could see social distancing being the norm as long as January 2021.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Tuesday that the province’s state of emergency would be extended past May 4 [4]. To date, there are 8,447 confirmed cases [5] of COVID-19 in Ontario and 385 deaths.
In Hastings Prince Edward there are 27 confirmed cases [6] and one confirmed death [7].