At the beginning of my teaching career, I had the privilege of working in a ‘wired’ district, in which each member of staff and student were provided with a MacBook.  The focus was on teaching students to use the technology and integrating it into classroom activities.  This was my introduction to technology in the classroom.  This experience left me unenthused with online inclusion in the classroom.

Before the pandemic, I developed some courses for a Senior Humanities block that offered some of the new Social Studies 11 and 12 courses (Genocide Studies, Comparative Cultures/Religions and Social Justice).  These courses were intended to bridge synchronous and asynchronous learning, even before I understood what those terms meant.  My view of online/distance learning was providing scans or links to articles, adding videos in for variety and allowing students to submit their work electronically.  Essentially, it was not very different from traditional teaching.

My vision of online teaching and learning is for it to be engaging and that it will feel different than a traditional class.  I want students and facilitators to be excited and engaged.  I also want the courses to be ‘living’, easily changed as needs arise and information changes.  Effectively blending the synchronous and asynchronous, due to the limited access to technology and reliable internet, continues to be a struggle that I would like to make as seamless and accessible as possible.