KITCHENER -- With parents and guardians now taking on the role of teacher, many of them say distance learning has been a challenge.
Duane Jenkins spends two hours a day going over online lessons with his eight-year-old son.
"It started off challenging for sure with the learning curve,” says Jenkins, a Kitchener resident.
As the curriculum ramps up, both father and son are struggling.
“On a computer it’s kind of harder because you don’t have any tools to help you. It’s just a screen and when you’re in school, there’s a lot of tools to help you,” says Ted Jenkins, grade three student.
“I’m expected to still contribute to my office and also teach my son at the same time, so it’s a big balancing act,” adds his father.
The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario says guidelines for teaching put out by the Ministry of Education is more of an effort to keep students engaged during school closures.
These guidelines recommend five hours of school work weekly for students in kindergarten up to grade six, and ten hours a week for grades seven and eight.
“I think it really is an effort to try to keep students engaged and connected, moreso than in any way try to replicate what would happen at school,” says Greg Weiler, ETFO president.
With the end of the school year fast approaching, experts are questioning what this could mean come September.
“How do we ensure that the children are getting a good education in this short term period? Longer term, how this affects the system as a whole in terms of our education system?” asks University of Waterloo Prof. James Skidmore.
In a statement, the Ministry of Education promised to unveil its proposed plan for an expanded summer program.
“In the coming weeks, we look forward to working together with school boards to deliver a robust summer learning program that will reach as many students as possible, with a focus on credit delivery, credit recovery and gap-closing programs and supports for vulnerable students,” the statement reads in part.
“There will have to be a more formative assessment to get a better picture of where everyone is at, at the beginning of the year,” says Weiler.
The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario says teachers are still waiting to find out what reporting will look like for the end of the year, but no students will be negatively assessed based on distance learning.
