REVIEW OF Ontario Virtual School BY student, Tate Bailey

(4.5) Student Experience

I was pleased with my experience in Ontario Virtual School. I was in HFA4U, completed the course and finished with a 95%. I found that having the ability to go through the course at my own speed, with all of the steps outlined and assignments to complete with clear expectations, was enjoyable. It was easy to work through the video lessons; the course resources helped me work through assignments and prepare for tests. The response times for marking were also great! It barely took me any time to move on with the course and receive my marks. I appreciated the feedback and found that it was helpful in improving my work for future assignments. In general, it was a flexible, organized, easy-to-follow system with the feeling that I was taking a proper Grade 12 course. I would definitely recommend OVS to my peers.

The Best Part

The greatest thing about being an OVS student is the flexibility and independence you receive. I especially appreciated being able to work at my own speed and fit the course around my own personal schedule. The stellar feedback from my teacher always pointed me in the direction of improvement, making it easier to do better on each assignment or test.

Suggested Improvements

One thing that could have made the course more enjoyable for me would be a communal aspect. If OVS implemented a way of communicating with other students who are enrolled in the same course, that would make life for us students just a tad bit easier and potentially more enjoyable. To have more of a classroom vibe could potentially be nice, but then again, it would come with potential problems.

Hidden Details

Something that might surprise a new student is how much support and structure there is despite the courses being completely online and self-paced. The video lessons, course resources, clear assignment instructions, and teacher feedback make it easy to stay on track while still having the freedom to work around your own schedule.

(4.5) School Leadership

My only interaction throughout the course was with my teacher, so I can’t speak at all about the guidance counsellors or other school leaders. That being said, I had a very positive experience with my teacher. My work was marked in a reasonable amount of time, and the feedback I received was clear, detailed, and helpful. I could genuinely tell that she took her time assigning my marks and that they had real substance and thought within them. Overall, I felt that the course was well managed and that support was available when I needed it.

(5) Teaching

The teaching in my HFA4U class was very positive. I felt the amount of work that was expected was fair and suitable for a Grade 12 university-level course. The lessons, assignment directions, and rubrics were explicit and clear, and I had a good idea of what I needed to do to be successful. I found the post-assignment feedback to be of particular value. It didn't just tell me a mark; it told me what I did well and what I needed to improve on for future assignments. I was able to use that feedback on the way through the course. The video lesson format was also useful, as I could work through this information at my own speed and go back through any material if I needed to. Overall, I believe success was achieving knowledge, showing true enthusiasm in tasks completed rather than just doing the set tasks, and developing my understanding throughout the course.

(5) Academics

I felt that the academic challenge and complexity of HFA4U were the perfect level for a Grade 12 university-level course. Each assignment was expected to be well-researched, and the lessons and resources given gave me enough information to know exactly what was being asked of me in each assignment. My favourite aspect of the course was that the material was very relevant to my daily life. I have increased my knowledge of nutrition and healthy eating and how the food I consume and the way I choose to live my life will impact my health now and in the future. I also picked up some great food safety and kitchen skills, such as avoiding cross-contamination, handling food, and safe food preparation methods. These are the skills I know that I will be using again in the future when I'm cooking for myself and others. In general, the information I learned in this course exceeded a credit or good grade. Much of my education can be used to make better and healthier decisions in my life.

(4.5) School Life

Because Ontario Virtual School is all online, there is physically no school that I could take visitors to and give them a tour of. Instead, I'd show a new student the online course platform and how the course is structured. It was easy to get around the lessons, videos, assignments, and other materials in the course, making it much easier to work independently. I'll also demonstrate to them how well the course is structured so they can be aware of what they have done and what they are still going to do. The most significant benefit of being in school at OVS is to determine when and where you do your work. For a full-time OVS student, you're not in the same school as you would be in the real world, but the flexibility allows you to fit a course into your work, sports, other classes, or personal schedule.

(5) Admissions

The process of getting admitted to Ontario Virtual School was very simple and much easier than I thought it would be. The HFA4U course was easy to register for. The course allowed me to register and start working without having to go through a tedious application process. None of this ever made me feel rushed, and it was very clear what I had to do. You should always make sure you are registering for the proper course and any prerequisites before enrolling in a course if you are thinking about taking one with OVS. It might also be a good idea to have a course completion schedule, as the flexibility makes it your responsibility to manage your own course completion schedule. In hindsight, I wasn't aware of how soon I would start to be able to get started and how much independence I would stand to have once I was enrolled. Overall, it was a convenient and student-friendly process.