VIEWS & OPINION
Maintaining continuity of learning during the pandemic
Comment by JAMES GRANT, Co-Founder of MyTutor
Since the closure announcement, in the conversations we’ve had with schools, we’ve found that the vast majority are really focused on trying to maintain continuity of learning for students throughout this unprecedented period. Keeping this continuity is of course important for children of all ages, but particularly so for students in Key Stages 4 and 5, many of whom will be making the step up to their next phase of study next year, or sitting GCSE or A-Level exams, in the case of Year 10s and Year 12s.
Six months without stable education If schools don’t reopen until September, these pupils now face the real possibility of going six months without stable education - which is a significant window of time for learning loss, potentially leaving children missing out on parts of the syllabus and falling behind in the next academic year. Many schools seem to share the same view, and are actively seeking out ways to minimise the gaps in learning for their students, often through online solutions.
Tools to support schools with remote learning The Edtech sector has expanded significantly over the last couple of years and there are now lots of online platforms and tools to support schools with remote learning - including MyTutor, which provides flexible online one-to-one tuition via an interactive virtual lesson space. Lessons can take place at home, as long as students have access to a laptop and microphone, and are delivered by talented undergraduate tutors studying at the UK’s top universities. Right now, the Edtech sector is incredibly well-placed to support schools, with searches for online learning up by 700% year-on-year. However, it’s a moral imperative that Edtech companies show solidarity with schools, parents and students by not cynically capitalising on the increased demand and ‘surging’ their prices.
The ‘fourth emergency service’ As the ‘fourth emergency service’, schools are really on the front line in this crisis, and are showing incredible fortitude and creativity - not only in supporting students who can’t attend school, but also in staying open for vulnerable children and children of key workers. At MyTutor, we won’t be increasing our tuition prices, and we hope the rest of the sector will uphold the same values. Now is the time for Edtech to come into its own and really demonstrate the merits of online learning - but not at the expense of schools.
Coronavirus leads to rise in home learning but are students prepared?
Comment by KEENE BRAGANZA, Managing Director at KAZ
Two hundred million children have gone back to school in China after what has been described as the largest home learning experiment ever. Online education has boomed worldwide as a direct result of coronavirus and in the UK schools have been working overtime to make sure that their students will be able to continue their education at home.
Back in March the BBC reported that Churston Ferrers Grammar School in Devon shut for a week after one pupil tested positive. David Lewis, deputy head, said staff had responded well to the challenge and had come up with creative solutions to set work for almost a whole week in a short space of time. Each child from year nine to 13 used a laptop loaned to them by the school and uploaded their work onto a shared platform where teachers could assess, comment on work and answer questions.
This is a commendable effort but it also highlights some of the shortcomings of the current education system. Many learners enjoy using resources online, but they are neither trained nor equipped to produce extended work hour after hour on a computer.
Too often they carry on using the basic hunt and peck method which takes them back to thinking in terms of letters and single words instead of working at sentence and text level. They compose piecemeal and the quality of their work suffers.
There are also health and safety issues. Long-term extensive use of keyboard can lead to RSI and possible spinal damage. When you think of how many hours schools allocate to teaching handwriting, it seems inconceivable that they cannot allocate 90 minutes to teaching the basic letter keys which is all it takes with KAZ type, our cloud-based program.
Many schools come across KAZ when they are looking for a solution for their learners with dyslexia. This was the case with The Moat School, a specialist dyslexia setting, part of the Cavendish group. They told us: 'All our learners are entitled to access arrangements such as extra time, the use of laptops, scribes or readers, and we encourage them to learn touch typing. This is so useful for all their extended writing tasks as few of our pupils have good handwriting.'
Robert Pattison is principal at Dublin Oak Academy, an international boarding school. The boys learnt the basic letter keys in 90 minutes but he wanted to make sure their motivation was high, so he set up an inter-form competition where the typing champions of each class were pitted against one another. This generated excitement, so much so that he found boys were neglecting their studies to improve their typing speeds!
With so many pupils learning at home this year we have adapted his idea and are running a competition that runs until June 30th 2020. Students can take the timed test as often as they wish and their best score will be saved. Come and join us and see if your students can reach world class speeds!
April 2020
www.education-today.co.uk 23
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
