Can a learning platform improve education in a very diverse group of schools: from some of the most successful independent schools in the country to academies in some of the toughest areas?
This was the question facing the United Church Schools Trust (UCST) and the United Learning Trust (ULT) back in 2007. After an extensive search, UCST chose itslearning – and has since found that the platform not only meets the needs of its diverse teachers and students, but is also helping reduce costs.
“We needed a learning platform that could help our teachers do more in the time they have. It had to give teachers and students access to the curriculum outside school hours and also give our students a virtual space where they could personalise and extend their learning,” explains Dr. Albin Wallace, Group Director of ICT and e-Learning at UCST. “In essence, we wanted a learning platform that could facilitate teaching and learning but was almost invisible. itslearning was the ideal choice. It’s a cloud-based hosted solution, which means we have low technical overheads and maintenance; it’s easy enough for anyone to use; and it has a higher education pedigree.”
Bringing out the best in everyone
With a mix of independent schools and academies, the UCST/ULT group is the most diverse education group in the country, both in terms of geography and student demographic. Dan Bunker, e-Learning and Training Manager, explains that itslearning has proved flexible enough to meet the very different needs of UCST’s teachers and students.
“The focus on the learning platform changes depending on the school. At Guildford High School, for example, many teachers add materials to the course pages to create a virtual space where students can extend their studies in their own time. But our academies are a little different. In most cases we took over schools with unmotivated students – and our academy teachers tend to use itslearning to bring multimedia into classes to engage students. At some of our academies, some teachers record feedback to students using the in-built sound recorder. This is faster for the teacher, and gives students more accessible and personal feedback.”
More work in less time and lower costs
Four years after starting with itslearning, Albin and his team are convinced that it has brought great benefits to all the schools and academies under the UCST and ULT wings. “We’re still perfecting our use of the system, but there is no doubt that itslearning has increased our teachers productivity,” says Claire Wallace, E-Learning Qualifications Administrator. “Many of the tasks they do every week – like sharing resources, setting homework and marking assignments – can be done through the platform, often automatically, so they now have more time to concentrate on teaching.”
Albin is keen to point out the cost benefits. “Many of our teachers use itslearning as a revision platform. For example, they create a revision page for students including videos, past papers, links to external resources and summary materials. Just looking at the amount of photocopying this type of material used to cost, you can see itslearning is cutting expenditure.”
Better grades?
Grades across the UCST schools and ULT academies are above the national average. But when asked if itslearning has directly led to higher grades, Albin replies: “Grades have definitely gone up since we started using itslearning, but there are too many variables in teaching to say that itslearning is the cause. We can say that student engagement has gone up. We can see that students are spending more time on their learning tasks. And we can see that teachers have more time to help individual students. But has itslearning itself increased grades? We’re hoping to do a study next year to be able to answer that question more clearly.”
About United Church Schools Trust
Find out more about the United Church Schools Trust (UCST) and the United Learning Trust (ULT).