Event summary produced by The Globe and Mail Events team. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.
Globe and Mail Events hosted a webinar on Thursday, April 16 focused on strategies for parents to support their children with online learning during the pandemic.
Moderated by Caroline Alphonso, Education Reporter with The Globe and Mail, the webinar included Jamie Mitchell, a public high school teacher with Halton District; Annie Kidder, executive director with People for Education; and Anne-Marie Scott, deputy provost of academic operations with Athabasca University.
Below the webinar audio are a few takeaways from the discussion.
1) Students won’t be expected to complete the full curriculum
Jamie Mitchell, a public high school teacher with Halton District said his administrators advised him to look at the curriculum, cut it in half and then cut it in half again. He is minimizing the amount of material and he’s not marking assignments because he feels grades would contribute to students’ anxiety. It’s important for everyone – students, teachers and parents – to go slow. Everyone is experiencing a learning curve with the technology and the stress of the pandemic, Mr. Mitchell said.
2) Parents don’t need to be teachers
Annie Kidder, executive director of People for Education, emphasized kids already have teachers. It’s not the job of parents to teach their children the school curriculum. Instead, parents can provide support and valuable learning through daily activities such as cooking a meal together, or just having a conversation. She suggested teachers assign activity-based learning, such as interviewing a family member.
Ms. Kidder said kids won’t fall behind with their education through the shutdown. That said, kids in homes with high stress and a challenging family life may struggle, she remarked. The classroom is typically an equalizer where students gather in the same place and learn from the same teacher - benefits not easily realized from distance learning.
3) Privacy and security should be top of mind
All of a sudden, we expected students to join virtual classrooms, video and phone calls from the privacy of their homes. Anne-Marie Scott, deputy provost of academic operations with Athabasca University said parents and students should be mindful of privacy, online security and the division of school and home.
She suggested caution with video calls to avoid compromising students’ sense of privacy, and for parents to help students safely navigate online resources. She also advised setting up a place in the home for schoolwork if possible, and putting the books away when it’s time to relax.
4) Connections are just as important as learning
In the midst of the pandemic, students are missing each other and their teachers. A phone call from a teacher can often help an anxious student cope. Conference calls allow everyone to feel connected and know they are still part of a classroom and a community, speakers agreed.
5) We should use technology sparingly
Ms. Scott said technology is not the magic bullet. Because of the pandemic, teachers had to rush their online classrooms but longer-term programs should include training for students and educators. We should use technology judiciously, she said. Often, an email or phone call will do the job.