REVIEW OF Ontario Virtual School BY student, Sarah Finkle

(4.5) Student Experience

Though Ontario Virtual School is an online school it is very well structured. The school itself has lots of different courses for students from 9-12. I did a grade 12 International  Business course and I really enjoyed it. I found the course material to be engaging, with lots of different techniques to help me learn the material such as slideshows, videos, and textbook reading. There were also lots of assessments in different formats that were really fun and interesting. There were assignments that were quite different from each other and they really made me use my resources, for we needed to make a crossword for the unit and in another one we tracked a cargo ship. There were also some forum questions in which you would answer a specific question and then chat with your peers about the different responses making it feel like a real school. There was great communication between the teacher and I. I had some technical difficulties when trying to submit some of my assignments but the teacher was very understanding and helped me with a workaround. Overall I would definitely recommend this course and the school to anyone who wishes to further their education.

(4.5) School Leadership

I did not have much contact with the school itself, but I did have lots of contact with the teacher. He was normally quite quick to respond and helped me when I had problems with my assignments. Due to a techniqual difficulty I was having problem submiting my documents to the virutal school itself so I had to submit them by email and the teacher helped me with that. He was also a very fast grader allowing me to accurately see where I was in the course.

(4.5) Teaching

I found the teaching to be excellent. I thought the different activities the teacher set up were unique and allowed for me to explore different aspects of not only the course but the career paths it would take me on. For example we did many different kinds of assignments, one in which we looked at potential job opportunities, another one where we tracked a freight ship. The variety in activities would also allow for students with different strengths to really succeed. I found the work to be on par with a grade 12 course and the material given to be quite engaging from the textbook (though the references are a little out of date) to the slideshows with lots of examples there is something for everyone.

(4.5) Academics

When doing this course I found the workload to be adequate for what you would expect from a grade twelve level course. I found the number of different resources they offered to be very useful from the textbook which covered all our material to the slideshows with the teacher explaining the slides in more detail. There were very interesting assignments that allowed you to explore other career paths for your future that are related to the course. I was very happy with the course and am excited to have it on my grade twelve transcript. I feel that the work was engaging and full of different opportunities to not only show your strengths but learn as well.

(4.5) School Life

Due to the fact that it was an online course the campus and school life was really up to you. You could do it anywhere provided you have a reliable internet connection. The teachers are also very accommodating to potential hiccups with technology. I went away while completing the course and it worked fine. They were very accommodating when I did not have all the resources to send the exam right after I wrote it and were very helpful when I had trouble submitting assignments and allowed me to submit them via email instead of the dropbox where they would normally go. In conclusion I think that this school is a good choice for anyone looking to do some remote learning.

(4.5) Admissions

The admissions process was not too hard, there was no interview or anything you just chose your course and signed up. There was a mini lesson which I appreciated to make sure that this was the course you wanted and to see if it was right for you. I thought that was very appropriate and helpful to first time users and helps make sure that you didn't waste your money and time on a course you either didn't want or weren't prepared to handle. Of my course was around 500 dollars which included one whole credit. The process through which you selected your course was simple and understandable and made it easy to find the course that was a right fit for me in the end.