REVIEW OF Ontario Virtual School BY student, Tanvir Aidhi

(5) Student Experience

Personally, I really enjoyed it. I loved it. The teachers were amazing, and so was their support. I would get responses back the same day, and marking was really quick. I finished this course with ease, with a 90%, thanks to the help of my teachers and the whole support team. The course was very flexible, and I was able to work at my own pace. I feel like I learned almost just as much as I would in regular school, even though it was online, and I can confidently say I am prepared for university-level physics next year. The course was challenging, but it really prepared me. I really enjoyed the labs as well because my mark did not rely strictly on the tests I did.

(5) School Leadership

Since I was online, I did not get to interact with most of the staff in person, but I did interact with my teacher and the rest of the support team through email. I received responses from my teachers and the support team within the same day. The responses were very clear and helped me navigate through my course virtually with ease. They also helped me upload my mark to OUAC for my university admissions.

(5) Teaching

I think that the teaching style was wonderful. Although I was online for the whole course, the course was laid out very well. All the lessons of the entire curriculum were right in front of me. What made it easy for me is that all lessons were organized under each unit, and the drop boxes for the virtual labs were separated into different sections, which made them easy for me to find. There were also separate test drop boxes, which were also easy to access. I really liked the fact that, along with the slides, there were videos provided as well, which helped me understand the content much better. It saved all my progress and let me know where I left off.

(5) Academics

I think this was pretty challenging, but that is what I really liked about it. Personally, I took this course as an elective, but for people who need it later on when they are in university, I can say that it definitely prepares them really well for their future. I think they covered the whole curriculum really well, and the flexibility and the time they give to complete the course really help to learn the content by yourself and be prepared for each test, and then the final exam as well. This way of learning would definitely help students be prepared for future tests and exams in physics courses when they take them in university. This course does an amazing job with its teaching and testing.

(5) Extracurriculars

Since I took it online, I did not have many extracurriculars that I could attend, and it was only one course I took. I would have liked there to be virtual study groups where students could come together with an instructor to discuss and help each other with the coursework, since some students like to learn better this way.

(5) Students

I took this course online, so my environment was really my own home. From my experience, the virtual environment was very welcoming since I got announcements from my teacher or the school directly on my home screen. I was always kept up to date with everything. All you need is a computer and a quiet place—anywhere, really; it doesn't have to be your home. This can be accessed through a library or anywhere you can get a device and a good internet connection. Some students might struggle if they don't have access to a device or a good internet connection, since the whole course is online, but they can always visit a library that offers computers and a printer to print out all their assignments, sometimes at a cost.

(3.5) School Life

I completed my physics course online, so I did not get any chance to see the campus or physically interact with any of my peers, teachers, or any other staff at Ontario Virtual School. I can talk about the course site, which I mentioned was really easy to navigate and very well organized. Most of all, the content was really easy to find. For anyone who is just starting their course, everything will be directly in front of them. The content section, the tests, and the drop boxes are always neatly visible on the left side of the website, and everything should appear as a drop-down list when you access the content, tests, or drop boxes.

(5) Community

For me, I took my course virtually online, so I can most definitely say that it felt like home to me because I finished everything right from my own bedroom. It was nice to have my own environment at home because, well, first of all, it was really stress-free. All I had to do was open my laptop and go through the lessons one by one, and I could choose whenever I wanted to complete a test, which was my favorite part. It was really flexible, so I chose what time of day I wanted to work on it, and it never came in between any of the extracurriculars I do outside of school time since it was all online and my decision how and when I wanted to work on my course.

(5) School Location

My school location was my own home since I did it online, but for my course, it can really be done anywhere, such as someone else's home or the library—any place that has a good internet connection. It is very flexible, so you can finish your work wherever you like, which is what I liked the most.

(5) Admissions

For me, the admission into the course was fairly simple. It happened online directly through their site. They asked some straightforward questions, and I was enrolled in my course within a week, I believe. I did have some trouble finding my OEN number, but it was resolved really quickly. They also had good support when I called for help during the admission process, and everything went really well for me; I was enrolled quickly into the course.