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Chair of UCDSB says current remote learning guidelines have policies that have been in place for years

The Chair of the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) says the remote learning guidelines were developed with policies that have been in place for many years.

John McAllister says the guidelines were developed in spring 2020 when they encountered the closures of schools due to the pandemic. 

“This document references policies that have been in place for many years such as the appropriate use of technology and the UCDSB code of conduct.”

In terms of privacy, McAllister says recording and screenshots require notice and permission and everyone involved in this business is asked to be mindful of their digital footprint. There is only going to be use of a UCDSB approved platform.

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When it comes to synchronous learning, McAllister says this was totally new to them and the Minister of Education has mandated that all boards provide synchronous learning to parents and children who opt out of the regular day school. He says more or less they are essentially providing two parallel programs but only being funded for one. McAllister says they have learned that what didn’t work well was using many different technology platforms. Teachers now use common platforms, like Desire2Learn, to ensure a more consistent approach for students.

McAllister says the whole issue of synchronous learning has been initiated unfortunately by their response to the pandemic.

“I’m not responsible for the pandemic, nor are students and parents, but yet we do have to deal with it and parents were given choices to opt out or to send their children to school. Yet they also have three other choices, one synchronous learning, asynchronous learning and asynchronous: non-digital.”

McAllister says if they had unlimited means, they would spend a lot of dollars hiring a bunch more teachers if they were available.

“And I wish we could do that, but at this point I don’t think we can. And the present plan does provide flexibility for students and parents in that they can opt in, they can opt out.”

McAlllister says over 900 educators were involved in virtual professional learning sessions last week.

He says his only hope is that this is going to be a temporary measure for the most part and will get back to more normal.

The open letter from McAllister addressed to parents/guardians, caregivers and staff can be found on the UCDSB website here.

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