Since the coronavirus pandemic began, we have changed the way we view education at Erskine Stewart’s Melville Schools (ESMS). We have embraced online learning, rethought why and how we teach our students and questioned how we can help to shape the future of education.
We have learned a lot over the past 18 months and have delivered high quality educational experiences that we feel our students deserve.
Yet, we realise this has not been possible for all educational institutions. Teaching staff are under extreme pressure to deliver excellent education in an ever-changing world, despite unprecedented threats. Achieving the level of education students deserve on a consistent basis can be very difficult for many schools and particularly schools in lower-income areas who face the most challenges with the least resources.
Lessons we have learnt
- Find a platform that helps your school holistically
- Find a select few resources which you can rely on across the board to deliver consistent results
- Teachers needs to experiment and play with eLearning
- Each student will learn from different methods of online engagement – not everyone loves online games!
- Analytics matter – see which links they clicked on and how many times students completed an interactive activity
- Use EdTech to host mental health webinars and workshops online
How EdTech supports ESMS
EdTech is changing the way we learn. It relates to the growing industry that facilitates remote and virtual learning in every conceivable way, from adaptive interfaces to education-specific fundraising sites, virtual educational games and classroom engagement boosters.
We have integrated our use of select EdTech organisations, including ClickView and Firefly, to deliver strong eLearning for our students. What’s important is to find a platform that helps your school holistically.
Using different apps and platforms for different tasks can confuse staff and students and produce an inefficient working environment. Instead, we recommend finding a select few resources which you can rely on across the board to deliver consistent results.