In this third and final part of our series on learning in the age of COVID-19, we’ll examine the dilemma of students returning to a “bricks & mortar” classroom and how online education with ONSTUDY ACADEMY is a platform structured to ensure students succeed in these uncertain and challenging times.
This school year parents and students are faced with some anxious decisions about what this academic year will look like in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This anxiety is a natural reaction to several key unknowns currently facing our society:
- Can school boards and the provincial government come up with a plan for traditional in-class learning that guarantees the safety of students?
- If I let my child return to the classroom, what are the risks of COVID-19 transmission from fellow students, teachers, support staff, supply teachers who shift between schools? And will school classrooms be sufficiently equipped to handle these risks (PPE, safety procedures. etc.)?
- Will public health officials be able to keep close tabs on the virus transmission once school starts? And will I as a parent have clear channels of this information so I can make informed decisions for my child, their health and their education?
- In addition, medical experts still have much to learn about COVID-19 itself and in this particular context how it impacts the young.
So clearly there are a number of factors parents need to think about in making a decision to “send or not to send” their kids back to physical schools this year. For example, are children with preexisting medical conditions at higher risk? What about the other members of your family – for example, are there immunocompromised or elderly family members at home for which the risks of transmission and infection are higher?
From a learning perspective, what educational experts have all agreed upon is that this level of uncertainty and anxiety is very detrimental to the process of learning. Any successful learning environment needs to be safe and stress-free or you risk compromising a child’s ability to focus on their studies.
Online learning, such as ONSTUDY ACADEMY offers several benefits to consider in this challenging environment:
- Our courses have been developed by OCT-certified high school teachers (some with PhDs), that fully align with the learning objectives of the Ontario Curriculum, as mandated by the Ontario Ministry of Education.
- Our educational platform has rich support structure in addition to our dynamic & engaging video-based lessons, such as subject-specific forums to ask questions, the ability to receive timely feedback from the instructor, and supplemental learning sessions with the instructor.
- ONSTUDY ACADEMY provides high quality and rigorous course content so that each student achieves his or potential, and can do so from the safety of their homes.
In conclusion, ONSTUDY ACDADEMY offers a convenient, safe and high-quality education platform to ensure high school students do not fall behind in their studies during this pandemic.
