The Guide Book Net-Teach Ltd
CONTENTS Welcome to Net-Teach Ltd
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Net-Teach Students
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The Net-Teach Service
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How does conference teaching work?
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Additional Support
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Assignments and Feedback
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The Net-Teach Contact
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Progress Reports
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Parents’ Evenings
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School Visits
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Preferred Room Layout
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Net-Teach Offers
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Contact Details
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Welcome to Net-Teach Ltd Conference teaching is one of the fastest growing areas of educational provision in the UK today. It is recommended by Harvard University and promoted by many other top educational institutions. It is a different approach to learning and the delivery is highly structured. All materials are provided and with the advancement of technology we are able to offer meetings with industry-based professionals and take students on virtual tours to expand horizons far beyond the four walls of the classroom. These experiences can be in real time, during designated times or as pre-recorded AVIs placed into the student’s room where they can be accessed at anytime as part of their structured learning experience. All of our teachers have subject relevant degrees and most have MA/MSc qualifications. They are highly experienced in delivering a variety of courses, including A-Level, NVQ, BTEC, GCSE and short-courses to fit the client’s needs. All our teachers are CRB checked. This Guide Book for Net-Teach provides all of the necessary information required to run a successful conference course, if that is what is required. We also run face-to-face short courses and training days. Should you wish to discuss any aspects of our business please contact us on 0044 1264 730232.
Students It is important that distance-learning students are aware of what to expect from conference teaching. As long as students are willing to learn new skills and are prepared to manage their time effectively, they will truly benefit from everything on offer. GCSE score of 44.8 or greater Grades A-C in English at GCSE level Effective in time management Prepared to ask for help when required
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Organisational skills Tutors will monitor students’ progress very closely throughout the course and will provide feedback on a monthly basis. Year 12 students will probably not have had experience of this style of learning before and they may find it a little strange in the early weeks of the course. For this reason we encourage all students to actively engage with everything on offer via this digital platform, such as one-to-one tutorials (bookable at any reasonable time) taking part in virtual tours, watching interviews from industry based employees which are recorded specifically for Net-Teach students, online meetups, competitions and much more. Participating and exploring in this way helps to normalise this learning method relatively quickly and students are able to clearly see the benefits of this digital teaching process.
Transferable skills Students benefit enormously from the study-skills embedded within each Net-Teach course. These skills are carefully developed by the tutors throughout the programme and the study-skills activities are tailored to meet the needs of each individual student. Study skills include:
Time management skills
Organizational skills
Self-discipline
Developing an ability to identify and apply appropriate learning styles
Written and verbal communication skills
Revision and examination techniques
Research skills
These attributes are highly valued by UCAS and can be instrumental when considering placement in Higher Education. Including a section on distance-learning in their Curriculum Vitae always attracts interest as it reflects self-discipline and embraces innovative learning techniques. Another benefit for students who engage in our methodology is improved performance in their other subjects, as it helps them to hone their study time and time-manage effectively.
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The Net-Teach Service Students are usually pre-registered in the summer term of the preceding academic year. This helps us with the timetabling process but does not place an obligation on the school to buy a course. The first week of the autumn term is set aside for testing equipment and introductions. Your tutor will send sufficient quantities of student folders and make sure all students are equipped with working e-mails and have access to the Student Room. If additional folders are required they will be sent by recorded delivery. In September you will be asked to complete and return the Registration Form. This forms part of the contractual agreement and will require you to provide the number of students for each group and subject. You will also be asked to agree the terms and conditions of the Net-Teach Ltd service, which includes full payment by the end of October of the same year. A contract of service is signed by both parties in order to engage fully in the teaching partnership. Payment includes all materials for up to five students and all services therein to set up and teach those students.
How does distance-learning work? Tutorial Each tutorial lasts an hour and is a two-way conference call, so students can see and speak to their tutor and visa-versa. The tutor is able to use a whiteboard and to show PowerPoints and video clips, all controlled by the tutor, so the student has a similar experience to seeing a teacher within the room. Other groups/guests can be invited so that the learning experience is rich and expansive, at no extra cost. Teaching using this method offers a diverse and structured educational experience, where potential research and expert advice from around the world can be sourced because of the technology available. In order to complete a weekly unit (and meet all of the learning outcomes) we expect students to typically spend around 4 hours per week working through the set assignments, either from the folder or from their virtual student room.
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The tutorials involve a range of different teaching strategies and techniques (video led discussions, pair work, group work, direct questioning, essay planning, research techniques and guest speakers) and each student will conduct a thorough review of each relevant weekly unit. All aspects of the tutorial are logged and fed back to the NetTeach Contact through the Tutorial Feedback Form.
Additional Support Net-Teach students are encouraged to keep in contact with their tutors throughout the week. Your tutor will provide telephone and email support from 8.00am to 7.30pm weekdays (bank holidays excluded) and can also provide a ten minute one-to-one video call, on request, anytime during the week.
Assignments and Feedback Each course will involve students submitting written assignments, mock exams and/or externally assessed coursework. In addition, most courses will also have a designated virtual student room, where work, research, information and links will be placed and the student will use this to either complete a task or to view in order to enrich their studies. You can expect assignments to be marked and returned within the week in most cases. In order to ensure this turn around time, it is important that work is sent promptly from your school. Please note that it is important that all students complete sections A and B on the assignment cover sheets (name, school etc.). Failure to do so may lead to delays in your tutor returning the work. The grades for each batch of assignments, mocks and coursework drafts (where applicable) will be fed back to the Contact via email.
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The Net-Teach Contact All of our clients are asked to designate a member of staff (this need not be a member of the teaching staff) who oversees the Net-Teach courses within the school. The Contact’s main responsibility is to communicate between your organization and Net-Teach Ltd. The Contact is not required to teach students or to be within the classroom whilst lessons are taking place; there is no requirement for students to receive additional tuition. Our courses are designed to be ‘stand-alone’. It is important that good relationships are forged between the tutor and the designated Contact. We encourage our clients to enter into an active partnership with us where information can flow freely back and forth as required to meet the needs of the student.
The main responsibilities of the Net-Teach school Contact are to:
Keep a copy of this guide for reference
Correspond with the Net-Teach tutor by email and telephone (we find email works best)
Liaise with your technical team and Net-Teach on technical matters
Ensure that core text books are ordered (where these are provided by the school)
Update tutors with relevant student information (for example, SEN students)
Make arrangements for one visit per term
Make arrangements for parent evenings
Make arrangements for the collection, postage and distribution of assignments
Receive (and where relevant, discuss) the Tutorial Feedback forms issued each month
Ensure that student data is handled by the appropriate Examinations Officer
Ensure that students are entered into the correct exams
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Report Writing We ask that you make your tutor aware of your school’s reporting requirements at the start of the Autumn Term and that any report templates and examples are provided in good time. As our tutors follow reporting schedules for up to ten different schools at the same time, we would appreciate it if you could remind your tutor of the reporting deadlines ten working days before they are due.
Parents’ Evenings Your tutor is contracted to provide one Parents’ Evening per tutorial group, per academic year. Please try to notify your tutor when you would like them to hold an evening (by video conference unless they live within 30 miles of your school) at least two weeks in advance.
School Visits School visits are carried out every term during each academic year within the UK. The first visit is usually conducted in the first three weeks of the autumn term and is used as an‘ice breaker’. The second visit usually falls just after Easter (your tutor will discuss this with you) and is used to consolidate coursework and to start the revision period. Please note that there are no videoconference tutorials during the two weeks of planned visits. However, students do not lose out on tutorial time as the visit sessions are twice the length of normal tutorials. Schools abroad are offered the same service, but at a slightly increased cost due to the distance involved.
Video conferencing preferred layout The traditional conference layout (horse shoe shape as illustrated below) works best for most tutorials. Having rows of desks tends to encourage those at the back to hide away. It is also more difficult to hear students when they are sitting in rows.
View as seen by the Net-Teach tutor
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Tips for setting up video conferencing in your school
Try to use a room which is reasonably free from distractions
Rooms with large uncovered walls (and glass in particular) can cause audio problems Try to ensure that the light source is in front of students and not behind them
Try to ensure that the web camera is pointing down on the group (so students can be seen)
Try to ensure that procedures are put in place to ensure that the room is accessible (unlocked) before a tutorial is due to start.
Try to ensure that students know how to get hold of a technician quickly if a connection fails.
Artificial lighting is more suitable than natural lighting when video-conferencing
Net-Teach offers: Highly qualified tutors - most are MA/MSc standard and many are External Examiners Industry guest speakers Virtual and actual tours Full marking Detailed and illustrated information packs for each student Student room with individual login details One-to-one teacher tutorials (on request) Careers advice and student profiling.
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Net-Teach Ltd Net-Teach is a company providing high-quality education over the net for schools, colleges, business’ and individuals. The company has grown dramatically in the last year and as such we are now able to offer provision for primary schooling. Please see the web-site for more information or contact us directly. We ask that you register your interest as soon as possible as this helps enormously with our planning for September. We understand that students change their minds and that there is no guarantee of numbers for the next academic year, but we trust your judgement and it helps us to know which subjects are required and how many schools we have for the coming year. This allows us to provisionally book our trips, guest speakers and venues.
If you would like to register your interest or request a call-back, please e-mail (admin@net-teach.co.uk) or telephone on: 0044 1264 730232
Conference teaching over the Internet is structured, dynamic and modern. Our results are above average and our students take pride in their learning. Classes are small, all information packs are provided, designated virtual rooms with pre-recorded work are updated regularly, industry guest speakers provide real insight into the working world and our careers advisors are well versed in the requirements of the top universities.
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