This article entitled “Winnipeg School Division pulls plug on ’Virtual School‘ program” was published by several news agencies yesterday (see full article below). It essentially details the reality that the Winnipeg School Division closing its virtual school. In fact, the article begins with the line “online learning in Manitoba has largely reverted to its pre-pandemic state…”
But this isn’t just true of Manitoba. In fact, there are only a few jurisdictions where the proportion of K-12 distance and online learning activity in 2023-24 was higher than it was in 2019-20.
In the case of Manitoba, they went from 6.6% of the population of K-12 students taking one or more courses in a distance and/or online learning format to only 2.9% of the population of K-12 students taking one or more courses in a distance and/or online learning format. In fact, there is only one jurisdiction that had a larger proportional drop (although it is not reflected in the table above).
The Ministry of Education was late in responding to the annual data collection for the 2023-24 school year, as such the annual report reflected an estimated level of activity based on past activity. However, if you consult the Alberta page on the website (which has been updated to reflect Alberta Education’s most recent data submission), the proportion of K-12 students taking one or more courses in a distance and/or online learning went from 11.2% in 2019-20 to only 5.0% of K-12 students taking one or more courses in a distance and/or online learning. This trend represents a decrease of 6.2% in the participation in K-12 distance and/or online learning in Alberta, but only 3.7% in Manitoba.
Jurisdictions like Newfoundland and Labrador (-0.2%), Nova Scotia (+0.4%), Prince Edward Island (+0.3%), Quebec (+0.8%), British Columbia (+0.1%), the Northwest Territories (+0.5%), and Nunavut (no change) have remained about the same in their level of participation. Conversely, New Brunswick (+2.4%), Ontario (+2.5%), Saskatchewan (+1.7%), the Yukon (+2.0%), and schools/programs under federal authority (i.e., Indigenous) (+1.4%) have experienced an increase in the level of participation in K-12 distance and/or online learning. However, it should be noted that the level of participation in Ontario is largely driven by Ontario Policy/Program Memorandum 167, which requires students to have completed two e-learning courses in order to graduate from secondary school beginning with the class of 2023-24.
This is all to say that with a few exceptions (at least one of which can be explained by a significant policy mandate), the proportion of K-12 distance and online learning activity across Canada has returned to pre-pandemic levels in most jurisdictions – representing what some in the article claim is “a missed opportunity” to reimagine and re-envision the education system.
Winnipeg School Division pulls plug on ’Virtual School‘ program
By Maggie Macintosh
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Winnipeg Free Press
Online learning in Manitoba has largely reverted to its pre-pandemic state following the closure of the Virtual School.
For some, that’s a huge relief. Others consider it a missed opportunity.
The education department’s new enrolment report shows the Winnipeg School Division-run Virtual School ceased to exist in 2024.
The decision to discontinue the alternative program for grades 9 to 12 students — a roughly $1-million annual expense — was made without fanfare.
Former principal Aaron Benarroch said that, in the end, it served a temporary purpose to re-engage students after the initial COVID-19 lockdown and address health and anxiety concerns.
“It wasn’t perfect. A lot of students who signed up didn’t have the stamina or discipline or support to engage every day. Even though they registered, it doesn’t mean they necessarily participated. Many did, but many also did not,” said the administrator who oversaw its rollout.
The Virtual School was formally established as a WSD high school with 76 students in September 2021. That number dropped to 61 the following year. During the final fall, there were 95 registrants.
As of 2023, the school was staffed by six teachers who provided lessons online. A guidance counsellor was also available to students.
Benarroch said it proved incredibly challenging to “take good care” of student academics and well-being from afar.
At the same time, InformNet, an online high school that accepts students from all over the province, remained an option, he noted.
WSD launched a trial version of the Virtual School in 2020 to support kindergarten-to-Grade 12 families with immunocompromised members. Elementary students were later transferred to the province’s now-defunct virtual K-8 school.
Sarah Smith, a mother of four, said she’s disappointed that remote learning infrastructure, which was costly and time-intensive to set up, is being dismantled.
Smith’s family spent three years enrolled in virtual classrooms to protect her child with a heart condition from COVID-19.
“It is a missed opportunity, I think. There are still tons of families who need that type of support and there’s nothing for them now, and that sucks,” she said, noting there was public outcry when the province closed the Manitoba Remote Learning Support Centre in 2023.
There’s a “mishmash” of homeschoolers who could benefit from a certified educator’s expertise, Smith said, drawing on her first-hand experience as a child who was taught by non-teachers.
Provincial officials defended the decision to shutter the support centre by citing the importance of young students attending their community school to learn and socialize in-person.
While there are fewer standalone virtual schools in Manitoba, interest in InformNet has surged in recent years.
The online high school, jointly operated by the St. James-Assiniboia and Pembina Trails school divisions, registered about 1,500 students annually, pre-pandemic. It now teaches between 3,000 to 3,500 students from all over the province.
The president of the Manitoba Association of Education Technology Leaders said droves of mainstream classrooms have adopted Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams and other e-learning platforms to complement in-person learning.
“There’s been this huge shift forward in the digital literacy skill sets of both students and teachers,” said Richard Roberts, a teacher who currently works as an IT consultant for a school division in Winnipeg.
As far as he is concerned, division leaders — in partnership with the association, should they want to draw on outside IT expertise — are well-positioned to implement remote learning on a case-by-case basis.
“I don’t see it as a big loss,” Roberts said about the end of the Virtual School era.
Superintendent Matt Henderson attributed the closure to WSD not receiving specific funding for it, low enrolment and interest being primarily among residents located outside the division that encompasses central Winnipeg.