EDMONTON -- Nearly one-third of Edmonton public students will be learning online during the first quarter of the 2020-21 school year.
As of Monday, nearly 90 per cent of families had made their decision ahead of next week's start: 63.873, or 70.4 per cent, will return to in-person classes, and 26,832, the remaining 29.6 per cent, will learn online.
Edmonton Public Schools divided the upcoming school year into four quarters: Sept. 3 to Nov. 10, Nov. 16 to Jan. 29, Feb. 1 to April 20 and April 21 to June 29.
Three weeks before the conclusion of each quarter, schools will reach out to families to find out whether their children will learn in class or from home.
Students who choose online learning will be assigned to a group, and their teachers and classmates may not be from the same school.
Children will receive live online instruction, be a part of activities and receive homework.
Edmonton Public Schools say instruction will cover the curriculum's required areas and core subjects.
School fees will be adjusted each quarter depending on where students decide to learn.
EPSB officials were not available for comment Tuesday afternoon, but the board's Twitter account released additional information on online learning.
Students will use both "synchronous and asynchronous" learning, the latter happening at a specific time where teachers and students interact virtually, EPSB said.
Asynchronous learning may include "watching videos, writing on message boards or small group work."
