School’s online for summer – Local school boards switch summer school to virtual learning

The two largest local school boards are moving summer school classes online for all secondary students.

Summer school registration started this week, but for first time, all courses for the Thames Valley and London Catholic School Boards will be offered remotely.

“Taking a look at last year, we had about 4,000 students register online, versus a little over 300 for in person. So, online gives students an opportunity to earn one or two of the credits necessary for secondary school that are online based. It increases accessibility for students all across the district. It eliminates transportation issues,” said TVDSB Director of Education Bill Tucker.

The provincial government has instituted a policy requiring students have two e-learning credits to get their high school diploma.

Parents can opt their child out though.

Leadership with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) say they’ve had concerns with online learning, saying it opens the door to privatization education, reduces socialization, and offers little control over AI usage.

“There is some concern that students are taking advantage of the online nature of it and making use of artificial intelligence to sort of assist in what they might otherwise be able to achieve. So that’s an ongoing concern that we have not only with summer school, but generally,” said OSSTF District 11 President John Bernans.