Barbour, M. K., Nagle, J., & LaBonte, R. (2021, April). Documenting triage: Detailing the response of Canadian provinces and territories to emergency remote teaching. [Poster] Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

1. Documenting Triage: Detailing the Response of Canadian
Provinces and Territories to Emergency Remote Teaching
Joelle Nagle, University ofWindsor – jnagle@uwindsor.ca
Michael K. Barbour ,Touro University California – mkbarbour@gmail.com
Randy LaBonte, Canadian eLearning Network – rlabonte@canelearn.net

3. Key emergency remote teaching dates across Canada:
Spring 2020

4. • Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and
Newfoundland and Labrador (with some
districts in British Columbia) provided devices
on loan to homes with limited or no
technology for students
• The technology provided to students included:
• iPads or tablets
• Laptops or Chromebooks
• Only Ontario and New Brunswick also offered
access to internet connectivity
DevicesDeliveredtoStudents

5. • All three territories and every province except New
Brunswick, Ontario, and Alberta included the
provision of non-digital educational packages for
students with limited or no internet
• Resources included:
• educational packets/packages
• Books
• supplies (i.e., journals, writing and art
supplies)
• Nova Scotia and the NorthwestTerritories
partnered with newspaper or radio stations to
offer package delivery and storytelling to students
OfflineResourcesAvailable

6. • Ministry-created websites with curated curriculum
resources
• Synchronous tools: Zoom, Google Meet, MSTeams,
Skype, Facebook Live, GoToMeeting
• Organizational tools: Google Classroom, MS One Note,
Fresh Grade
• Learning Management Systems (LMS): Moodle,
Learn360, Brightspace
• Courses/Education: LinkedIn Learning, MS Educator
Center, GoogleTeacher Center, InformNet, ProQuest,
Ontario’s TVO and Quebec’s Télé-Québec television
network
DigitalToolsUtilized
Image used via Creative Commons on Bing

7. • Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and the Yukon
provided some form of online professional
learning for teachers
• This professional learning included:
• webinars
• university courses
• “how to” tutorials
• virtual professional development days
• toolkits
• access to resources for curriculum support
VirtualProfessionalLearningOpportunitiesforTeachers

8. Fall2020StartDatesAcrossJurisdictions
Jurisdiction Delayed start
BritishColumbia Two day delay
Alberta No delay
Saskatchewan One week delay with a staggered start by last
name
Manitoba No delay
Ontario Two weeks or longer delay for remote and one
week delay for in-class with a staggered start
by grade level for in-class
Quebec No delay
New Brunswick No delay
Nova Scotia No delay
Prince Edward Island No delay
Newfoundland & Labrador No delay
Yukon No delay
NorthwestTerritories No delay
Nunavut No delay

9. Required by most jurisdictions by students out of
class and where physical distancing was not possible
Few jurisdictions offered new approaches beyond
spring offerings; some announced specific skills-
building initiatives; remote learning continued to be
an option for students in several jurisdictions
Fewer number of courses in secondary programs to
reduce cohort groups and mixing; subject teachers
rotate to cohorts
Some teachers shifted to teaching classroom and
remote online simultaneously, while students switched
from class to home-based learning or the reverse
Masks
Remote Learning
Quadmester Schedules
Shift to Hybrid
OptionsandRequirementsforStudents:Fall2020

10. Student ExperiencesDuringRemoteLearning
• Procrastination in isolation
• Interactions with few
• Too many things to remember to do
Personal
Pace
• Too fast, too slow
• Too overwhelming, too boring
• Simply unengaging
• Too close, too far
• Too structured, too boring
• No fun, no more
People

11. Teacher ExperiencesDuringRemoteLearning
• Students feel trapped, pandemic has altered school life entirely
• Keep these four underlying philosophies in mind to support
practice: equity, engagement, excellence, and empathy
Personal
Pace
• All eyes were on government announcements, health protocols,
physical distancing in schools, and masks.
• Calls for smaller class sizes, more effective cleaning protocols,
funding for remote learning, and mask mandates dominated the
social and media conversation.
• Tried and true practices of hand delivering print materials and
resources directly to students filled in gaps when digital and
online delivery was not reaching
People

12. SchoolLeaders’ ExperiencesDuringRemoteLearning
By being “nimble and alert” schools and programs were able to offer
online resources and learning opportunities for parents and students
working at home, and now are focusing on how teachers can shift
their pedagogy to better support remote teaching.
Personal
Pace
Some students and parents chose at first to be in school, others at
home, then many changed their minds. School leaders were expected
to “pivot” – a word widely used during this pandemic that implies
inherent simplicity, which is not the case in such a broad and
encompassing social enterprise that is public education
The vignettes tell the tale of the toll extracted from school and district
leaders as they continue to navigate in a deadly game of dodgeball
with COVID-19 and the resulting chaos of unpredictability and ever-
changing needs
People

13. Active COVID-19 cases across Canada: December 2020
• Many jurisdictions returned to remote learning
for students toward the end of the fall and
either remained or returned to remote into
the new year
• Most jurisdictions mandated specific
attendance requirements for synchronous
learning
• Remote learning continued to be an option
and students could change mode of learning

14. About the Canadian eLearning Network
• CANeLearn is a pan-Canadian network of K-12 online
and blended learning schools, organizations, and
educators
• Focus is on PD, research, sharing resources
• Intent is to leverage our Canadian collective to
promote online and blended, or e-learning
MISSION: To be the leading voice in Canada for learner
success in K-12 online and blended learning.
CANeLearn.net

15. About the Canadian eLearning Network
info@CANeLearn.net
CANeLearn.net
https://canelearn.net/home/research/projects/