OCDSB Community Check-In: Results

OCDSB Community Check-In: Results
Posted on 04/14/2022
OCDSB Community Check-In: Results

As a community, we have been through a lot. After two years of COVID-19 restrictions, we are starting to see the gradual lifting of federal and provincial measures. To help us plan for these changes, we recently asked for your thoughts about how we can adjust and how we can best support you moving forward. Your feedback will help us as we all work through this transition and plan for the rest of this year and the 2022-2023 school year.

 Thank you to those who participated! We had 10,301 participants share 10,767 thoughts and assign 344,323 ratings. Results can be viewed here. Participants are also welcome to return to the exchange to discover the top thoughts that were shared in their group.

Students in virtual learning: https://tejoin.com/scroll/391944633
Students learning in-person: https://tejoin.com/scroll/468942270
Parents/guardians of virtual learners: https://tejoin.com/scroll/298255927
Parents/guardians of students learning in-person: https://tejoin.com/scroll/120747038
Educators (OCV and In-Person; teachers, P/VPs, EAs and ECEs):
https://tejoin.com/scroll/885804684
All other staff (Central Educators, Administrative, Professional, and other Support Staff; including office staff, technicians, central departments, psychologists, social workers, speech language pathologists, custodial, maintenance, lunch time monitors, ELAs, etc.): https://tejoin.com/scroll/233476106

 If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Note: The purpose of this exchange is to engage participants in community dialogue. You will likely see thoughts shared by others that you don't agree with. The rating process (assigning 1-5 stars) is how you can indicate your level of support, or lack thereof, for each thought. Please do not report thoughts you disagree with, instead assign a low number of stars. Thoughts will only be removed from the exchange if they contain offensive language, individual's names or private information, or indiscernible text.

Frequently Asked Questions:

 

General FAQ

 

Why should I participate?

The school experience has been greatly impacted by the pandemic for all students, staff, parents and guardians. Your participation will help us better understand your experience, how we can help you adjust to the easing of restrictions, what we can learn from the pandemic, and what we should continue carrying forward. This will help us plan for the rest of this school year, the 2022-2023 school year, and years to come. 

 

Why does the survey have two parts/types of questions?

To check in on how things have been going, we are interested in specific topics such as engagement and well-being. These questions are best suited for a multiple-choice survey. Second, we want to know about how we can help adjust to the easing of covid restrictions and provide support as we plan ahead. This is best suited for an open-ended conversation with you and others in your participant group (i.e., other students, parents, or staff). This allows for us to hear about what is important to the group collectively, and gives everyone the opportunity to learn from each other.

 

Who participates?

There will be separate surveys and thoughtexchange conversations for:

- Students in virtual learning;

- Students learning in-person;

- Parents/Guardians of virtual learners;

- Parents/Guardians of students learning in-person;

- All OCDSB staff.

This will allow people with common interests and experiences to respond to the topics most relevant to them, and to be involved in conversations with each other. If you belong to more than one group (e.g., you are a parent/guardian and an OCDSB employee), you may participate in each exchange.    

 

Are my answers about the school or the district?

All feedback will be considered at the district level and will inform decisions as we continue to plan for the remainder of the school year. Your answers can be as specific or as general as you want. Keep in mind we are trying to plan the best we can based on your feedback and ongoing public information regarding COVID-19. 

 

Does my opinion really matter?                            

Absolutely! We believe that by understanding what is important to students, parents/guardians, and staff, we will be able to better plan for the future.

 

When will I be able to see the results?

Once you have shared your thoughts, and assigned stars to the thoughts of others, you will have a chance to DISCOVER the results. This will let you see which thoughts and ideas were the most important to the group. A summary of the results including survey responses will be made available early April. In the meantime, you are welcome to also explore results from surveys conducted last year on this website


Why did only students in grades 7-12 receive invitations?

We invited students in Grades 7-12 to participate in the process because of their age and ability to contribute to the online consultation process using their OCDSB email account.

 

I received multiple invitations.  Do I complete the survey more than once?

If you received more than one invitation because you have multiple roles, please respond separately to each invitation. If applicable, you may respond as a parent and as a staff member. 

 

I have more than one child should I participate more than once? 

Families with more than one child should use a different device for each response, or may use the same device by using a private/hidden browser session (also known as incognito or private mode). For support on how to do this, please visit this link

 

Can my partner and I both submit a response?

We ask that you limit your responses to one parent/guardian response per child. All parents/guardians are welcome to contribute thoughts to the open-ended question at the end (even if they have different thoughts/options). You can return to the survey to add additional thoughts any time before the deadline.

 

How do I participate if I didn’t receive an email invitation?

If you did not receive an email invitation, you can still participate using the appropriate link. 

Students in virtual learning: https://tejoin.com/scroll/391944633

Students learning in-person: https://tejoin.com/scroll/468942270

Parents/guardians of virtual learners: https://tejoin.com/scroll/298255927

Parents/guardians of students learning in-person: https://tejoin.com/scroll/120747038

Educators (OCV and In-Person; teachers, P/VPs, EAs and ECEs):

https://tejoin.com/scroll/885804684

All other staff (Central Educators, Administrative, Professional, and other Support Staff; including office staff, technicians, central departments, psychologists, social workers, speech language pathologists, custodial, maintenance, lunch time monitors, ELAs, etc.): https://tejoin.com/scroll/233476106

 

What do I do if I am having difficulty participating?

If you are having difficulty participating, we would be happy to help. Please contact us by email at [email protected]


Accessing the Survey and Thoughtexchange Conversation

 

Is Thoughtexchange accessible for blind or low vision participants?

Yes, Thoughtexchange is accessible for blind or low vision participants. Accessibility options can be enabled by pressing Ctrl-Shift-E (all at once) and this will also be provided as an audible cue for participants with screen readers enabled.

 

Can I participate in a language other than English?

Yes, if you’d like to participate in a language other than English, you can do so by clicking 'Change language' from the drop-down menu on the Introduction page for your exchange. Further instructions on how to participate in another language can be found on the thoughtexchange help page.

 

To participate in another language by SMS or text-based messaging, text the name of the language or “Hello” in that language to 728-55 then respond with the 9-digit exchange code for your group. Standard message and data rates will apply. Participants will be given a link to continue in a browser window (requiring internet access or data to take part).

Exchange codes are as follows:

Students in virtual learning:  391-944-633

Students learning in-person: 468-942-270

Parents/guardians of virtual learners: 298-255-927

Parents/guardians of students learning in-person: 120-747-038

Educators (OCV and In-Person; teachers, P/VPs, EAs and ECEs): 885-804-684

All other staff (Central Educators, Administrative, Professional Support Staff, and other Support Staff; including office staff, technicians, central departments, custodial, maintenance, lunch time monitors, ELAs, etc.): 233-476-106

 

How do I participate if I don’t have access to a computer?

If you don’t have access to a computer, you can participate in the exchange by SMS text.  Your cell plan must enable SMS for premium and short numbers.  Text “Hello” to 728-55 then enter the 9-digit exchange code for your group (as noted in the question above). Standard message and data rates will apply.


The ThoughtexchangeTM Process

 

What is ThoughtexchangeTM?

Thoughtexchange is an online platform that allows groups to come together and have important conversations.

 

How does it work?

There are three steps:

●     SHARE – where everyone shares their thoughts.

●     STAR – where everyone sees each other’s thoughts and assigns stars to them.

●     DISCOVER – where everyone’s thoughts and stars are shared publicly.

In response to each question, we recommend that you share your thoughts, then rate about 20-30 thoughts in the Star step. You do not need to rate all thoughts, but you are welcome to rate as many as you like. You will then have an opportunity to Discover the top thoughts that are important to everyone in the OCDSB community.

 

What happens in the STAR step?

In this step you will read the thoughts of others and assign stars to the thoughts you agree with. This will help us get a sense of shared values and priorities. Thoughts are completely unedited; the thoughts you see in the STAR step are presented exactly as they were submitted - typos and all.

 

How do I assign stars?

Use the stars to identify the thoughts most important to you. You may assign up to five stars to any thought, based on how much you agree with it. The more stars you assign to a thought, the more important it is to you. Click the stars at the bottom of the thought to assign them‎.

 

How do I skip a thought?

To skip a thought that does not apply to you, please look to the right of the entry. You will see a grapes icon (three purple dots). Click on the icon, then "skip". Follow the instructions in the menu box that appears.

 

Why can’t I see all of the thoughts I shared?

Generally, most of the thoughts you shared will appear in your selection of thoughts in the Star step. Although if you added a lot of thoughts, you might not see all of them. Also, ThoughtexchangeTM reviews every thought that is added to the conversation and at times a thought must be removed. A thought is removed when it is rude or hurtful to a person or a group of people, containing identifying information, or it does not answer the question.


Why is there a character limit on the thoughts I can share?

The rationale for the character limit is to ensure that thoughts are focused and not too broad. Since thoughts are shared with others to be rated, brief and clear thoughts tend to be easier for others to consider and rate than longer or more complex thoughts. That being said, participants are welcome to share as many thoughts of their own as they wish!

 

Can I add more thoughts?

Yes. We are always interested in your ideas, and you can return to the exchange to add more thoughts and/or stars as many times as you like until the exchange deadline.

 

Why are thoughts shared verbatim?

This exchange is a OCDSB community discussion. It gives everyone a chance to share ideas and to identify their priorities. It is important that people have the ability to express themselves freely without editing or modification on our part.

 

Whose thoughts am I seeing?

When you join the conversation, you join based on your role as a student, parent/guardian, or staff member. This will put you into a conversation with others who identify with the same group, and you will see a random selection of their thoughts (along with some of your own) in the star phase.     

 

How do I end the exchange, or save and submit my responses?

In the exchange, you won’t see an ‘End’ or ‘Finish’ button. Within an exchange, the conversation flows and it allows the dialogue to continue. Unlike a traditional survey, participants can keep coming back to read and rate what others think, and share additional thoughts of their own.

 

How do I use the ‘Flag’ feature?

Click on the 3 dots to the right of the thought that you would like to flag. Click “report” and  identify your reason for flagging the thought (note: You will only be able to select “rude/hurtful” or “other” from the drop box; use either reason for flagging). A description for the flagged thought is required to report it. Taking a moment to accurately describe the reason for reporting the thought will help the leader determine whether or not the thought should be removed from the exchange. Your identity will not be shared with the sharer or the leader. Please do not flag a thought because you disagree with it; if you disagree with a thought you should assign it a small number of stars.

 

What happens to thoughts that are flagged?

If thoughts are flagged, they will be removed from the public star process until they can be reviewed by a moderator. 

 

Am I able to remove my own thoughts from the exchange?

If you no longer wish to share your thoughts, you can flag them using the ‘Flag’ feature and explain you are self-moderating, and the thought(s) will be removed from the process.

 

Am I able to remove someone else’s thoughts from the exchange?

Responses are moderated with the intent to remove thoughts that are:

1. Rude

2. Hurtful

3. Do not answer the question

4. Contravene the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

If you see a thought that you feel should be removed for one of the reasons above, please click on the thought and use the 'Flag' feature. 

 

Why does the exchange appear different on mobile and desktop computers?

The Thoughtexchange software detects and selects the layout that best suits your device and size of your browser window.

 

Privacy and Confidentiality

 

Will people know what responses were mine?

No, your name/email will not be associated with any of your responses, in either the survey or the Thoughtexchange conversation. Do not include your name or other personal information with your thoughts in the thoughtexchange. 


Why are there thoughts that include personal information?

Thoughts are reviewed in the context of Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Thoughts that contravene the Act are flagged. For example, participants were told that thoughts would be shared. If a parent/guardian shares a thought that includes personal information about a child, he or she has the ability to do that. On the other hand, if a teacher shares a thought with personal information about a student, it is flagged because parent/guardian consent is required.

 

How did you get my email address? / Why didn’t I get an email?

The parent email addresses were taken from our school/district database. Parents who did not receive an email invitation should contact the school office and ensure their contact information is up to date. Student and staff lists were generated from our internal email systems.

 

Will you be sharing my email address?              

No, the e-mail addresses used for the consultation process will not be shared or sold to another third-party.

 

How do I know my privacy is protected?   

The school district is committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with our legislated duty under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Your responses will never be connected or attributed to your email address. If you have questions about privacy, please contact us at [email protected]


Website by SchoolMessenger Presence. © 2024 SchoolMessenger Corporation. All rights reserved.