Virtually School

Pupils at Lynn Grove VA High School in Great Yarmouth, Great Britain, will be participating in a Quiz with a difference over their half term holiday next week -- All 460 youngsters in years eight and nine have been challenged to get on line and show off just how much they know. The quiz, which comprises questions from each area they study has been devised for them by their teachers, and is part of the school's plan to get all pupils and their families familiar with the school's innovative Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

(PRWEB) October 26, 2003 --The VLE is the latest thrust in the school's drive to stay ahead of the game in enriching the pupils' experiences of using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and to ensure that all pupils experience a genuinely twenty first century education.

Over the last year staff at Lynn Grove have been collaborating closely with software developers from a local company, LJ Group, who specialise in E-Learning and training resources, and the Local Education Authority (LEA) to adapt and develop the LJ VLE so that it really meets the needs of staff and pupils of this 12 - 16 Technology College.

'Developing the VLE is a major step that will have a significant impact on the learning of our pupils and beyond', according to David Evans, Head teacher.

'We were determined to find a way that would enable pupils to have access to the curriculum where ever and when ever they wanted to'.

The VLE, which is available to the pupils on roll via the school's website, enables them to access work set for them from home, libraries etc. via the internet and what's more gives them immediate feedback on their achievements.

It is also able to support Lynn Grove's inclusion agenda by making study facilities available for pupils who are unable to come to school for whatever reason, and to this end the school is currently developing airwave access to complement the usual access route via the telephone line.

The Lynn Grove VLE is much more than a portal or repository of information; it is a powerful tool to support teachers in managing learning and assessment. For example, Ruth Towers, head of English, is using the VLE to great effective to support pupils develop and monitor their progress with spelling.

'No more tedious marking of spelling tests the VLE does this for me, freeing me to use my time creatively' says Ruth.

Adapting curriculum materials takes time and imagination, and to this end the school has employed Christopher Ruda, an IT expert, not a teacher, to work with teaching staff helping them to get materials on line.

'It has been a steep learning curve, but over the last year we have made tremendous progress and now a huge range of curriculum materials can be down loaded quickly and easily onto any browser by the pupils. '

'The great thing is we are not restricted to paper based documents - using Flash, pupils can view video clips and listen to sound clips linked to their work - giving great opportunities for practice in modern foreign languages and science for example'.

By developing so many resources in house and customising other E-Learning material teachers can be quite certain the curriculum 'on line' meets their pupils needs.

And what about the views of the pupils?

'Its fun and an easy way to learn' said one. 'Its an excellent way of making learning interesting, at our own pace and with immediate feedback,' said another.

Is this virtually school or virtually holiday?

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Lynn Grove V.A. High School
http://www.lynngrove.org.uk/


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