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Researchers: Dr. Enrica Piccardo (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) and Dr. Gisella Langé (Lombardy Educational Authority)

The project “Supporting online language learning: Fostering pedagogical innovation in a time of crisis” is a SSHRC-funded Partnership Engage Grant between �������� (Dr. Enrica Piccardo) and the Ufficio Scolastico Regionale per la Lombardia / Lombardy Educational Authority (Gisella Langé). The project has explored 1) the online classroom experiences of language teachers, 2) how teachers responded to the forced move online, and 3) opportunities for effective innovation in online language education. In its final stages, the project findings are currently being curated into an edited book of teacher case studies: Piccardo, E. (In press). Classe plurilingue e approccio orientato all’azione. Guerra edizioni.

Researchers: Dr. Emmanuelle Le Pichon-Vorstman (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), Dr. Nathalie Auger (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier), Dr. Antoinette Gagné (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), Dr. Carole Fleuret (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and University of Ottawa), Dr. Jérémi Sauvage (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier), Dr. Laurine Dalle (Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier), Neha Kapileshwarker (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), and Leanne Rempel Adegbonmire (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education)

Welcoming students who have not mastered the school language can pose challenges such as the inaccurate assessment of their true academic potential which can lead to diminished academic opportunities for them at school, and ultimately negative educational outcomes. In fact, in Canada and France as well as numerous other countries that have experienced an influx of newcomers, the dropout rate among language learners is high and newcomers are underrepresented in STEM pathways in education. Generally, teachers feel unprepared to cope with these high levels of linguistic diversity and the declining interest in sciences in the middle grades along with the reduced STEM practice opportunities outside of school hours. These circumstances have created an urgent need to improve our ability to provide appropriate support for the increased academic success of language learners in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Against this backdrop, computer-based tools have recently gained traction as promising strategies to assist teachers in fostering collaboration, problem-solving and procedural thinking among their diverse students, improving higher-order thinking of learners and increasing student engagement overall. Multilingual versions of digital tools are of particular interest as they remove the language barrier, thereby providing an unobstructed view of the skills of linguistically diverse students. However, the effectiveness of such tools has yet to be researched.

Researchers: Dr. Emmanuelle Le Pichon-Vorstman (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), Dr. Dania Wattar (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), Rosalia Cha (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education), Jhonel Morvan (Brock University), Joyce Mgombeo (Brock University), and Zahra Safdarian (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education)

The closure of schools across Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic has created significant gaps in educational provision for both ‘mainstream’ and ‘vulnerable’ school populations. Additionally, teachers across grades K-12 have struggled to find learning resources that connect with the curricula they are mandated to teach. When students fall behind, they develop a learning gap, a lack of knowledge and understanding of curriculum content, relative to their peers. Learning gaps are relatively common and invariably require, at some point, a strategy to help the student catch up. A rather unique consequence of the Covid19 pandemic is that it has likely caused in a single timeframe, a learning gap in relation to curriculum expectations in a substantial proportion of the student population. We propose to exploit this opportunity to examine the feasibility and efficiency of implementing an innovative online tool that addresses the common challenge of the learning gap in education. We will investigate how this innovative online platform may support the accelerated catch-up phase of students with a learning gap as well as reinforce the digital skills of teachers.