SCCSC students should be proud of the effort they have shown towards their education during these difficult times for the school community and China. The students have maintained their strong sense of responsibility for their skills building. This is made even more impressive when seeing the communication skills of students evolve across platforms; from the classroom, to the CanGlory online learning environment. These attributes are part of the underpinning of our Round Square character education and will prepare our students to succeed in their future endeavors.

The online learning platform for international courses is set up so students can work synchronously with their teachers online at the same time, or asynchronously at their own pace. While my teaching is not face-to-face, I try to maintain a strong online presence for my students in order to help guide their learning. The CanGlory platform allows teachers to offer feedback in writing, as audio recordings, and as video messages and I enjoy being able to offer feedback in a variety of styles. The more often students log on and submit work, the more feedback and guidance they receive.

Since we began teaching online, I have happily discovered that distance (online) learning does not have to mean a “distancing” in our relationship to our students. In fact, over the past 9 weeks of corresponding with my students on the CanGlory platform, I feel I have grown to know them even better as individuals. “Distance” in this case has helped me develop a more meaningful connection to my students, which I believe will benefit us all once we return to the physical classroom!

I am very happy with the CanGlory platform. It is so easy to plan and grade assignments and keep everything organized! Learning how to use the website has been an easy process- uploading files, lessons, videos- so great! It is easy to give students immediate feedback and keep in contact with them. I especially like the rubric option. I appreciate that we have been able to successfully continue our students’ education in a worthwhile way - both in the content of what we are teaching, and also in the fact that they are learning how to use an educational website - a skill they will be sure to need in the future.

Using the CanGlory platform is very beneficial to our grade 12 students, as 95% of universities in North America use online learning management systems, Moodle being one of the big four, to educate their students. This is an advantage that this year’s students have not only over previous SCCSC students, but over students globally. Being able to track not only when the student logs into the course, but to see the individual’s engagement with every single aspect of the course makes online classroom management simple.

As an instructor, the biggest benefits were learning about this new subject matter, and learning from the course developer and the university CanGlory Education workshop material. Seeing all of this in action will further enrich my career, and my capacity as a teacher and writing consultant.