Director of Learning and Teaching, Ormiston Victory Academy

Philosophy

E-learning at the Academy focuses on making learning more effective. We innovate using educational evidence and theories of learning. We evaluate how well the students have learnt. We use what works.

People learn best when:

• They can collaborate.
• They have a strong personal interest in what they are learning.
• They have choice.
• The challenge is high but within their grasp.
• They have feedback that is relevant, achievable and fast.
• They can use the feedback to make improvements.

ICT is used at Victory to promote these learning factors and to encourage faster and deeper learning.

E-Learning Evidence Base:

We refer to Hattie (2009) to ensure our innovations have a sound evidence base. The published evidence shows that e-learning is effective when:

1. The use of ICT is one strategy among several used by the teacher. Programmes that rely heavily on e-learning do not perform as well as mixed programmes.
2. Teachers who use an e-learning strategy are effectively trained in its use. The evidence shows that a minimum of 10 hours training is required before any learning benefits are observed.
3. Students have several opportunities to learn which may include video tutorials, simulations and games.
4. Students are in control of the learning. Research shows that more effective learning takes place when the student can choose the activity and pace of their learning.
5. Peer learning is optimised. Working on computers in pairs is more effective than working in larger groups or individually.
6. Feedback is optimised. Feedback is most effective when it explains. Giving the correct answer is far less effective.

ICT Facilitating Teaching:

We also use ICT to support the administration of teaching across the Academy. ICT streamlines the processes and procedures that teachers use as part of their daily teaching. For example, homework is posted online together with past paper questions, information sheets, list of useful websites etc. We use ICT to deliver appropriately differentiated work to individual students. We refer to this ICT function as Learning Management.

Learning management systems reduce the time teachers spend on administration both in and out of class with obvious benefits.