Local divisions have online learning down to a science

By KELLEN TANIGUCHI on May 6, 2021.

ktaniguchi@medicinehatnews.com@@kellentaniguchi

School divisions in Medicine Hat and throughout the province were preparing for a transition to online learning Wednesday after Premier Jason Kenney announced increased COVID-19 restrictions Tuesday, which included K-12 education shifting back to the computer screen.

Schools are no stranger to virtual learning as of late and the two divisions in Medicine Hat, as well as Prairie Rose School Division, were not surprised by new restrictions and are confident they will provide successful online learning to students.

“One of the things is that our staff have been able to maintain an online presence throughout the year so that if this situation arose, the transition back to an online environment would be relatively seamless,” said Dwayne Zarichny, superintendent for the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education. “We aren’t in a position where staff are having to create, for example, Google classrooms and those sorts of things, because those were established first thing in the fall, and they’ve maintained them.”

Roger Clarke, superintendent at Prairie Rose Public Schools, is confident the division is prepared to move to online learning, if nothing else because this is the third time they’ve had to do so.

“We’re getting quite adept at it and not necessarily is it our preference, but it’s something we’re familiar with,” he said.

Mark Davidson, superintendent of the Medicine Hat Public School Division, has faith in the skills of the teachers and students to use technology and successfully participate in an online learning environment. He adds that COVID cases and quarantine have been a concern for the division and the new restrictions will help a bit.

“I do know that this decision gives us breathing room in order to ensure that we have staff in place to support students,” said Davidson. “We hope by the time we return to in-person learning that numbers would have dropped to the point where we’re not having to replace so many teachers day after day.”

Prairie Rose is the only division to not already have a school learning remotely at the moment, however Clarke says he supports the government’s decision to implement province-wide restrictions. He adds because they are a rural school division, a lot of families go into major cities for services, health care and more.

“We do understand the need to shift to this in the province and to certainly help our health-care system that’s clearly being taxed with the number of people who are in hospital due to COVID-19, as well as those who are in ICU beds,” said Clarke. “We know we are part of the big picture. We understand that, but it’s still challenging for our students and our parents.”

Davidson says it’s important to reduce the burden on the health-care system, and by doing so it also reduces the burden on the education system. He says they wouldn’t have to trace as many cases and they wouldn’t have the challenge of providing coverage for the many teachers in quarantine.

All three superintendents say although they are prepared to teach virtually, they look forward to being able to see student faces in the hallways of their schools again.

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