Revision as of 15:01, 17 November 2020

Welcome to [insert world name here]

The year is 2025. A freak mutation of virus C, which caused a world-wide pandemic in 2020, was identified in 2021, which made it more virulent. Patient zero is thought to be American, which is unsurprising due to the uncontrolled nature of the virus in the United States, but has quickly spread to Canada. In response to this new situation the Canadian government ordered a full lockdown in July of 2021, and the provincial ministries of education were consequently forced to transfer all learning to online platforms. While by 2022 the pandemic had subsided, the Ministry of Ed continues to mandate a 100% online teaching policy for fear that a re-introduction by a traveller could result in a rapid re-emergence of the virus. While some critics among parents and experts accuse the re-elected Chevrolet government for closing schools with the purpose of cutting education costs, the government sustains that online schooling is maintained purely for public health reasons.

Learning Spaces

Learning Styles

Funding/Socioeconomic Factors

Lack of Access to Technological Resources

Inequalities in Society

Inequities in Home Life

Roles of Teachers and Parents

Responsibilities of Teachers

Due to pandemic, teachers are expected to conduct all school-related operations fully online. Teachers will still be held to the same standards as if they were teaching students in a classroom in-person. Several teachers with knowledge of sign language will be hired. Every teacher is expected to attend two workshops in the beginning of each school year and monthly meetings to provide them with the necessary training and make sure that they have access to the essential technological resources. Additional staff will also be hired to resolve technical challenges quickly if they arise.

• TogetherX has provided teachers with the technology needed to run classes online. Each teacher has been given a laptop with a built-in webcam, a charger, a set of headphones, and a microphone. On the laptops, TogetherX’s teaching software named Learn2gether has already been downloaded. Teachers can use this application to provide online lectures for students that will be either synchronous or pre-recorded if the lecture is asynchronous. In its recent update, Learn2gether has added a new component in which teachers can offer a lecture in hologram mode. This means that a hologram will appear of the teacher, but also the students when class is in session. They can also upload resources for students such as course material, assignments, quizzes, and tests. Online assessments will be monitored to avoid any cheating from taking place and to ensure that they are completed in a timely manner. All grading will be completed online, and students will be provided with feedback when necessary.

• Students will also have access to the Learn2gether application that can easily be downloaded from their browsers. They will have the option to communicate with their teacher if they have any questions or need additional help after lectures are over. Additionally, teachers can also communicate with their fellow teachers so that they can coordinate course schedules and materials accordingly for students. Students now have to complete their course selections online. However, course descriptions and requirements have been amended due to the fact that there were originally a lot of in-person components in courses like cosmetology, physical education, construction technology, and transportation technology. There is now a required hologram lecture that students must attend in order to meet the curriculum standards outlined by the Chevrolet government.

• Student clubs and sports teams will be fully run online so that students can still take part in extracurricular activities. Teachers who are supervising student clubs and sports teams are expected to attend all club and team meetings and ensure that students receive the necessary resources and funding. For student clubs specifically, meetings can be conducted using hologram meetings or meetings without holograms. For student teams, all sessions will be conducted using Virtual Reality (VR) so that students can experience playing sports as if they were there physically. VR headsets will be purchased on behalf of the students by the school and will be sanitized and redistributed to sports players each school year.

Effects on Teachers

As seen in the start of the pandemic, there may be another teacher shortage. Back in March 2020, a lot of teachers quit their jobs as they did not feel like they were properly equipped and experienced to teach students online. Another factor to take into consideration was that many teachers had young kids at home whom they needed to supervise when they conducted their own online classes. This put a big burden on teachers as they had to run both a classroom full of students as well as take care of their own families who were completing schoolwork online at home. Additionally, many teachers believed that the transition to classes being run fully online was handled poorly by the Chevrolet government. Now in 2025, there have been many improvements made to the curriculum and the way in which classrooms will be run thanks to the help of TogetherX.

One teacher gave this statement during the December 2024 monthly meeting: “When the pandemic first started and classes were beginning to be run online, I was so overwhelmed with all the responsibilities I had to fulfill. I had to teach a class that was online and teach another class in-person. I don’t understand why the Chevrolet government was so disorganized, they knew it was only going to get worse. I felt so inexperienced with technology and I did not even know how to turn on my webcam. Now, after completing the necessary training, I feel so much more confident in teaching students online and the hologram option is so cool! I can see if my students are awake and listening rather than sleeping on their beds and just leaving the class on.”

Effects on Parents

Due to the pandemic, parents have become overloaded with responsibilities as they have to go earn money for their families while taking care of them. Many parents have decided to quit their jobs or transition to working from home so that they can supervise their children who are doing their schooling online. Parents who decide to continue to work while their kids are doing online classes have to hire babysitters to take care of their kids while they go to work. Not only is this a financial burden for families, but it also takes a toll on their well-being.

Equity and Learning

Social and Mental Health

Bullying

Assessments

Group Members

• Matthew D'Ippolito
• Emma Frost
• Brenda Martinez Castro
• Rachel Nazareth
• Alisa Takabe-French