Extended online learning could broaden so-called 'performance gap,' experts say by Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press Posted Jan 28, 2021 12:56 pm EDT Six-year-old Peyton Denette works on her speech and language skills with speech-language pathologist Olivia Chiu of Two Can Talk remotely from her home in Mississauga, Ont., on Monday, March 30, 2020. Denette along with many other children are having to adapt to online learning due to the coronavirus also known as COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette Some students will emerge from this year’s extended period of online learning lagging far behind their peers, experts and teachers warn as they try to mitigate the situation.