COVID took the world by surprise. It was a situation the likes of which the world had never seen before and the impact of COVID-19 on education was tremendous.
In the great white North, we got to see the virus’ impact.
It began in late 2019 but became severe by March 2020. Life came to a halt. Lockdowns forced school, college closures, and a complete blackout of our working daily lives.
The schooling system was hit the hardest. Countrywide, public schools shut down to prevent the spread of the virus. For a while, the schooling system came to a complete stop.
But things resumed. Only this time, it was all virtual.
This post discusses the impacts of coronavirus on schooling and teaching in Canada (especially in Alberta and Ontario) and the solutions we needed.
Expert Opinion
“The shift to digital tools in tutoring has disturbed pupils too. They now need to invest more effort and be more vigilant with their assignments” – Joshua Malcolm, an expert writer at PapersOwl who specializes in distance learning.
Embracing the New Normal
Nothing was the same after the coronavirus had hit the world. Countries all over the world had shut off their academies and programs and said goodbye to the in-person style. What we experienced was unimaginable.
In CA (and the United States), educational institutes had to introduce social distancing rules and remote learning services. This was to ensure pupils got back on track.
Besides that, academies began to focus on providing e-learning opportunities.
No one knew when the virus would end. The curriculum, however, had to be finished.
Zoom, Google Classroom, And Going Digital
When the traditional failed, digital services came to the rescue.
The schooling system introduced online learning. During school and university shut down, students couldn’t study and had to attend school from home. This added to the academic challenges.
Homework was assigned to Learning Management Systems like Google classroom. In addition, lectures were being conducted on the Zoom video conferencing app. In short, the whole community went over the Internet.
The measures that had to be made to facilitate learning have been several.
The CA populace waited for the restrictions to end. And educationists were busy developing new ways to facilitate kids.
This not only involved developing new assessment methods. It included developing ways to help the underprivileged. The goal was to ensure universal learning during the outbreak.
To take things digital, academies have implemented a variety of different techniques. Some of which include:
- Conducting online assemblies
- YouTube content for supplementary teaching
- Shared reading sessions
- E-learning classrooms
The class divide was another major issue that inhibited education in CA.
It highlighted a significant flaw in the Canadian economic system.
People coming from poor and disadvantaged households had it rough. They had difficulty adjusting to the new normal.
Not having access to an internet facility and a lack of technology in the form of smartphones and laptops. These factors, amongst others, caused pupils to suffer.
The CA schooling system responded to the situation.
However, there was a need to respond in a better manner. It would have mitigated the long-term effect of the coronavirus on the student body.
Recovering the Curriculum
Once the coronavirus showed signs of slowing down, the schools were reopened.
A recovery curriculum was provided to pupils. This helped them get back on track with what they had missed.
But this presented another caveat. How to manage the work that was missed out on without overburdening?
It is important to ensure that pupils do not feel burnt out when they come back.
It didn’t just affect the pupil. The teachers, too, shouldn’t feel the burden of assigning the tasks to pupils.
Besides the curriculum, there was also the vaccination.
When vaccine rollouts began, pupils were told to get vaccinated before returning to academies. Naturally, there were ample reservations from the parents.
They didn’t want their kids to get vaccinated. However, studies conducted on what students say about the Covid-19 vaccination gave favourable responses.
A Socially Distant Classroom
Social distancing is a feat of the New Normal.
When introduced in academies, the goal of this practice was to keep pupils safe from the virus.
To ensure social distancing, academies implemented a variety of actions, which include:
- Pupils maintaining a 2-meter distance from one another
- Separate walkways to ensure no close contact
- The introduction of hand sanitizing stations
- Preventing unnecessary gatherings of students and staff alike
- Maintaining a clean and sanitized institution
While difficult to enforce at first, these steps are now a feature of every school in CA. As a result, pupils and teachers alike have embraced this part of the New Normal.
Rotating Classes
The student body is immense. There is no denying that. So how can you ensure proper social distancing in classrooms with a large student body?
Such was the question posed by the CA school system. The answer came in the form of pupil rotation.
Smaller grades that are aimed at enforcing social distancing rules were introduced. To study, students were told to come in shifts rather than all at the same hour.
This reduced the chances of pupils coming into close contact with one another. As a natural course, this prevented the spread of the global Covid-19 pandemic throughout Canadian academies.
Final Words
The going has been tough for the CA schooling system compared to other parts of the world. The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on teaching in the great white North cannot be overlooked. Based on recent numbers, research, report, and data, the full overhaul of schooling has changed countless lives.
But it’s all for the greater and safer good. With the introduction of digital teaching, there are now alternatives to physical schooling.
But even then, the charm of physical schooling has not gone away.
The best thing is, our system is most likely to continue, no matter what happens!
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