Online Learning Doesn’t Have to be a Virtual Disaster.

Online Learning is on the rise in Ontario

Online learning is on the rise across Ontario, where COVID-19 cases are as high now as they were in March, at the beginning of the first wave of the pandemic. As confirmed case numbers creep up, more and more parents are opting for virtual school across the province. Virtual classrooms offer students the ability to learn from the safety of their home, but there are unique challenges that students enrolled in online learning face. WordQ can help distance learners navigate those challenges and excel in the virtual classroom. Students using WordQ quickly improve their reading, writing, and researching skills and become more confident and independent. Not every school board offers WordQ to their students, but we offer a 30-Day Free Trial. It doesn’t cost anything to find out if WordQ could help make the virtual school experience the best it can be.

Virtual Classrooms and Remote Learning Can be a Struggle

With the COVID-19 pandemic has come a massive shift to online learning at virtual schools. The Toronto District School Board reported in August that 29% of their students would be attending school virtually, according to the CBC. The TDSB, Canada’s largest school board, notified parents this week that the number of families opting into online learning has gone up considerably since then, and as such they’ve had to delay the start of TDSB Virtual School until September 22, 2020. While the TDSB is the largest board in Ontario, it’s not the only one experiencing growing numbers in their online classrooms. Peel and Halton District School Boards have also had to delay starts, while other boards like Simcoe County built a much later start date for online learning into their school reopening plans.  

Online classes offer safety and stability to many students, but we also know that the struggle to learn at home is very real. There are a lot of differences between a home setting and a school, and these differences are more difficult for students with special needs to navigate. In April, Inside Higher Ed posted an article highlighting the ways that accessibility in learning has suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Students who are deaf or hard of hearing, have low vision or are blind, those with learning disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or a physical disability that requires use of a computer keyboard instead of a mouse, students with mental illnesses or various other challenges, have been put on the backburner ‘en masse,’ as instructors scramble to transfer two months' worth of teaching content to a digital format …” (Greta Anderson, Inside Higher Ed, April 6, 2020). Much has changed in how schools have approached accessibility since the beginning of the pandemic, but parents and advocates in Ontario are still concerned that students with disabilities are going to go without the support they need as schools reopen for in person and online learning according to a Global News story from August 22.

Virtual school can be particularly difficult for students who already struggle with writing, whether they have an IEP (Individualized Education Program) in place or not. If your virtual learner already struggles with writing, spelling, or getting their ideas out clearly, from their head onto the page, WordQ can help. Developed by doctors and championed by teachers, our software is there with your child as they’re typing, virtually anywhere they type, to support them when and where they need it.