High school students are still getting settled into their new schedules under COVID-19 restrictions.
But there is still some uncertainty from parents and students about the days they are not in class.
Anglophone East Superintendent Gregg Ingersoll says all high school students are required to have an electronic device this year. There have been some complications due to shipping and delivery times for laptops.
He says the goal is once all of the students have them, they’ll be able to stay connected everyday, “Not all of the students have one yet. Many do, but many have ordered online through the provincial website and those are just starting to arrive now.”
He adds, the medium to be used for transmitting information will eventually be online through a specific program, “Microsoft Office teams, so teachers can create teams of their classes and put all of the information and the assignments online. So that is the vision of where we are headed here. Right at this moment, it is not set up in all our schools, but that will be the plan.”
He says there is a gradual transition, and they will continue to build on the online component in the coming weeks.
But there is a bit of a learning curve for some of the teachers as well, “For classroom teachers, you can’t just throw that switch and all of sudden doing everything online. There is a gradual transition here, transitioning to the online part of it. The technology piece, we’re going to continue to build on that as we go.”
He adds, “The immediate priority is to establish a process that supports the flow between learning at school and learning at home. Once all students are
connected, the use of technology will enhance that process and allow for more varied approaches.”
