Online learning
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About the author Clare Brokenshire is the Head of Faculty at Academy21, having joined in 2013. She is devoted to helping students engage with learning in an online environment. Clare began teaching in the 1980s as a teacher of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and a modern foreign language teacher across private schools in London before teaching in a further education college and two universities in Sheffield. She has 10 years’ experience of mainstream secondary teaching where she realised that many vulnerable students were failing to have their needs met. Her work at Academy21 involves developing the curriculum to accommodate diverse needs and participation in strategic decision-making to ensure the company meets national requirements in the educational opportunities it offers.
and differentiated work when learners may be making rapid progress or falling behind.
each of these needs is the challenge all teachers face. When it comes to the scale of students with behavioural difficulties, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), emotional disturbance, lack of academic engagement, fears associated with personal or school problems, autism, or children in Pupil Referral Units (the number of primary school children in pupil referral units (PRU) in England has more than doubled since 2011 – Data for England 2019) online, remote learning can prove to be a highly effective and cheap alternative to one-on-one teaching support.
Online learning Online alternative provision can be implemented relatively quickly with no requirement on a school’s part to make longterm financial commitments. Students with SEND have a range of tools at their disposal to help them engage with lessons tailored to their specific needs and motivate them to take ownership of their learning. This type of alternative provision, which can be embedded within existing school systems, not only helps provide students with a safe and secure environment, but also allows them to work flexibly at their own pace and ability through personalised timetables; whether that’s home, school or a learning centre. During live online lessons learners can fully interact with their teacher, peers and lesson content through voice, interactive whiteboard, polling tools and quizzes, and through written responses. Virtual breakout rooms are also effective in enabling individual and small group activities, practical work senmagazine.co.uk
This can give students the safety, security, and flexibility to communicate with their mentor regardless of the environment they are in, fitting this around a tailored timetable of classes. In many cases, students also have control to decide whether they wish to have their webcam on or off in lessons or one-onone conversations with mentors, contributing to a comfortable environment for all parties. Whether a student has social, emotional or any other SEND, having their own individual learning mentor means they can feel sufficiently supported while having a positive effect on their mental wellbeing. “It’s really good that the courses are recorded so I can look back on what was in class, if I’ve been stuck. I am dyslexic so often I don’t understand things the first time round so its good to be able to go back and watch the recorded class again,” explains one student. Another student adds, “It gives me better structure and routine without bullying.” It’s not for everyone but providing students with the comfort to learn at their own pace with tailored learning, in a safe and secure environment is of paramount importance to many. For schools and local authorities the cost and flexibility is key! For the online teachers who are trained to effectively support the range of learning needs, the smaller class sizes gives them the space to place students in the most appropriate groups to support their engagement with the lesson content and their ongoing learning requirements. As schools and local authorities struggle to find ways to support students with special educational needs and disability (SEND) under supressed budgets, online learning is an excellent option for an increasing number of students. SEN109
