'Smart' is the biggest buzzword in learning

Dubai - Blended learning programme at GEMS Wellington Academy places students at the centre of the learning experience

These are exciting times in the field of education. With all the prospects, study material and technology that are being made available to the digital natives of today, students have very few excuses to be performing badly in school.
"The technology and learning pedagogy that is being made for learners of today makes me wish I was in school now," joked Catherine Brandt, IB eLearning Coordinator, SBC Blended Learning Option at GEMS Wellington Academy, Silicon Oasis.
In early 2015, the IB curriculum school launched the blended learning programme in order to place students at the centre of the learning experience. Since then, the learning experience has drastically changed for the teachers and students in the school. The programme allows students to be in total control of their education, while the school can continue to monitor their performance through a stringent framework.
However, the traditional teacher-led learning remains intact as they guide the students step-by-step.
"The programme allows students to be in charge of their learning process and gives them the freedom to choose their time and space of study using smart devices anywhere, anytime," said Brandt.
This means that students don't need to follow a time table and attend regular classes like how it is in the conventional classroom. Students also stated that the programme has given them a lot of independence.
Radhika Bohra (16), a Year 12 student of the school, said: "I've learned to manage my time much better ... to become much more independent."
Learning module
Brandt said the blended learning track at the school will be in classes of approximately 22 to 25 students from all around the world. "Students are given access to the course content through an online learning platform and the content will be broken down into weekly lessons," she said.
The most interesting aspect of blended learning is that students will have the opportunity to join a live lesson with their teacher every week - allowing them to interact with classmates in real time and have questions answered straight away.
Students will be encouraged to share and discuss resources and case studies. "Another major benefit of the programme is that the educational resources we have are updated, current information," said Ali Raza (16), another student.
The virtual classroom features resources and tools like discussion forums, blogs and news feeds. All the content will be archived, so students will be able to refer back to it as much as they need, which is particularly helpful for exam revision.
The school is enrolled with the Pamoja education programme, a social enterprise working in cooperation with the IB to provide online diploma courses. The online courses are taught by highly experienced IB teachers from across the globe.
"The teachers are scattered across the globe. One of the French teachers for example, is from Nicaragua and there are Math teachers in Australia and England," she added.
Hardware for blended learning
As Brandt gave a tour of the school's 'blended learning plaza', she pointed at the various laptop docks, the various MacBook and the Apple iPad storage pods, a silent room, collaboration spaces, single and peer spaces, comfort seating, and a polycom room for real-time conference learning.
"The school has converted 12 classrooms into a 'blended learning plaza', and some classrooms for the Year 12 students into a 'blended learning zone'," explained Brandt.
Students are seen regularly using the plaza as the multiple screen sharing facility and the independence to learn their way makes the plaza appealing to students.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com