What is Educational Assistant

Throughout northern and rural locations across Canada, school boards struggle to attract and retain teachers. A community-based pathway program in Alberta was designed to address this challenge by providing opportunities for local residents to pursue a Bachelor of Education degree. Through blended delivery, students complete courses on campus and through synchronous and asynchronous learning. This chapter examines the adaptation of a course assignment for an introductory teaching methods course. By examining the course design, instructor facilitation, and four composite online discussion postings by students, the authors demonstrate how students were able to improve their writing skills and increasingly engage in critical thinking through the practice of weekly postings.