NEWS RELEASE
April 13, 2022
OUSA releases policy paper titled “Tech-Enabled Learning”
TORONTO - The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) is proud to release the second policy paper approved by OUSA’s Spring 2022 General Assembly, Tech-Enabled Learning. The paper was written, approved, and published by students with the purpose of bringing attention to student concerns and recommendations that address the sudden transition to remote learning.
“As we continue to navigate the virtual learning environment, we need to ensure that the quality of students' education is not compromised,” said Shemar Hackett, Research and Policy Analyst at OUSA. “This paper outlines several recommendations for institutions to adopt that would benefit students in a remote, in-person, or hybrid learning environment.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way post-secondary institutions approach teaching-learning forever, with a bulk of instruction being taught virtually over the last two years. While the possibility of in-person instruction in the near future seems promising, there is a new world order and hybrid instruction will be the predominant mode of instruction in years to come. Students are concerned about the decline in quality emergency transition to remote learning will have on their education. They are also worried about their access to reliable technology, ability to build networks/relationships with peers, and their privacy in this new environment.
To mitigate these concerns, students have come together to provide recommendations that would increase the accessibility of tech-enabled learning tools and platforms, protect their privacy when using proctoring services, and strengthen the quality of online courses. They additionally offer recommendations on how to handle any future emergency transition to online learning.
This policy paper and its recommendations were developed by students at OUSA’s member schools. It was passed on March 13, 2022 at OUSA’s Spring General Assembly, held virtually.
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OUSA represents the interests of 150,000 professional and undergraduate, full-time and part-time university students at eight student associations across Ontario. Our vision is for an accessible, affordable, accountable, and high quality post-secondary education in Ontario.
Irum Chorghay
Operations & Communications Coordinator
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
[email protected]