How VLEs Can Help Address Global Education Challenges

Online platforms can prove a great resource to home-schooled or transient students, providing a way of retaining and better supporting the student population. They can also offer more tailored learning, creating lessons to suit the individual learner and can track lesson attendance. Students can move at their own pace, skipping content they have already mastered and receiving more detailed instruction where they need greater support. 

Tackling problems in teaching

Education Support’s annual Teacher Wellbeing Index show the highest rates of depression and anxiety amongst UK teachers so it is crucial that we relieve pressure on teachers wherever possible and streamline their workloads accordingly. Many of the wellbeing issues highlighted in the report also existed ‘long before the pandemic struck’, suggesting that the crisis has only exacerbated systemic dormant problems, rather than introduced new ones.

Virtual learning environments can help tackle teacher shortages, whether that’s long or short term. and also help lessen the burden by doing instant marking, as well as data analysis and progress reports showing students’ strengths and areas for improvement.

There is currently a global crisis in teacher training and recruitment in key subjects such as maths, physics and computer science, and VLEs can help respond to this challenge by bringing in more specialist members of staff. They can provide  access to online training and specialist advice to enhance professional development opportunities. Virtual platforms are also working to expand the remit of what they can offer pupils, with some moving into the career and technical education sector.

International differences

In the US, virtual schooling  has been part of the education landscape for many years now and is quite well established. Large providers, including Edmentum, have been integrated into teaching models. Some international schools following US curricula have also adopted the technology to a limited extent, but not across the board. Outside the US, the international market is by and large in its early stages, although it’s expected to grow exponentially over the next five years.

In the long term, VLEs will require scrutiny. Senior leaders need to check that they will fit in with the wider curriculum. They need to take into account scheduling, IT infrastructure, teacher  training and communication with parents and students. Schools and education providers will turn to reputable platforms that offer consultations with end users and help them adapt their platforms to suit their school;’s needs.

Content is no longer king

For the last ten years, curriculum content, has been billed as the key to success for any education provide. Now it is  a commodity. As a result, there are several curriculum providers, all offering alternative syllabuses. However, what matters now is integrating these different syllabuses with assessments to ensure all students are being held to the same standards.

Assessment

There have been repeated calls for the education sector to ‘stop clinging to pen and paper’ in terms of academic assessment, with an independent report, The future of assessment: five principles, five targets for 2025, urging a radical overhaul of the exam system.

Online testing is gradually increasing its presence in the UK and is proving more efficient and adaptive, as well as more sustainable. This marks a significant sea change in the school market, and we have seen from the US that once this happens at scale, traditional models of pedagogical delivery, particularly textbooks, are no longer fit for purpose.

Teachers and students now have a much higher expectation of resources, looking for tools that will adapt to learning as new programmes and ideas develop. As a result, we’re witnessing the growing influence of artificial intelligence in learning design, as well as more interest in VLEs.

This renewed focus on digital testing also makes it easier to compare international qualifications. After all, as societies become increasingly globalised, it’s more important than ever to standardise assessment across the world.

Languages

Globalisation also increases the need for shared languages. Most academic research is now published in English, and the majority of the vocabulary and content in technical fields is too. Schools want to ensure their pupils are equipped with the skills to enter any sector, and so, the English language remains key to an international education, with education providers worldwide investigating the best methods of teaching and building English into their curriculum.

There have been great innovations in the way English is taught.  Spanish state schools have switched to English as a medium of instruction, which has led to a leap in English proficiency for all students. Meanwhile, in Brazil, bilingual schools and study centres prepare students for high school with English as a medium of instruction.

Education providers can learn from these innovative methods, not just when it comes to teaching English, but also when it comes to teaching modern foreign languages more generally.

The proven benefits of a second language should make teaching them a priority in every country, including those where English is the native tongue. Virtual learning environments are a great tool to improve language skills, providing contact with accredited native speakers when they may not be accessible otherwise.  

The versatile nature of VLEs in meeting a wide range of needs across different contexts is undoubtedly one of their greatest benefits. Their fluidity and scope for varying applications will continue to serve educational communities around the world, through and beyond the pandemic.

Derek Devine, Senior International Business Development Manager of Edmentum