Lockdown learning: New data reveals online learning trends for UK students
New data from online learning platform, Firefly, reveals learning trends in the UK with parents eight times more engaged with their children’s studies than they were prior to COVID-19. The data analyses activity from over 400,000 students across 500 schools which shows the shape of school day has significantly shifted since going online – with a clear morning rush with 81% more learning now occurring before 1pm. As well as its existing school clients, Firefly has offered all schools around the world access to its platform free of charge. While findings are consistent across all age groups, the data shows a spike in online learning from primary schools who were not previously engaging with online learning in the same way. Primary school students are 17 time more likely to engage with online learning now than prior to the pandemic – potentially highlighting a new future for early learning practices. The morning rush is in part due to a shift in teachers streaming lesson and engaging students with video form time which tends to take place at the start of the day. In addition, Firefly has seen schools across the country adapt to ensure online learning is a success with many now streaming assemblies for students at the start of the day. Firefly has also found that students learning appetite varies based on the day of the week – with activity on the platform 20 per cent lower on a Friday compared to Monday. It’s not only students who are adapting to a new learning week – Firefly has found new trends from teachers navigating online learning practices. Most notably, teachers are spending 9 times as much time online on a Sunday preparing for online learning and setting tasks for the week ahead compared to before the pandemic. While there is an increase in parental involvement in student learning, this is taking place after bedtime as families continue to juggle life during lockdown. Parents are much more likely to access the platform out of hours, with nearly a fifth of time outside the hours of 6am-6pm. Currently 1.2 billion children in 186 countries are affected by school closures due to the pandemic. As schools begin their next phase, online learning will still be integral to education as children go back to in person learning at different times, understanding how children respond best to this form of learning is essential. Joe Mathewson, Founder of Firefly comments: “We have seen an unprecedented shift in how schools operate and how learning is managed, yet we have seen the majority of schools adapt to this quickly and continue to deliver a great education. “The data highlights how we can continue to use online learning to its full advantage to ensure going forward we are creating and inclusive and successful education system that will get the best out of every student, as well as the importance of parental involvement.” James Hoyle of Skipton Girls’ High School and designated EdTech Demonstrator School commented: “Since the significant transformation of the education sector to online we have seen a fantastic transition and new independence for all our student. “Firefly has been essential for this, with 96% of students reporting they can continue making progress with their learning online. The ease at which digital learning has happened has meant we will continue using Firefly as a platform and ensure online learning is built into education going forward.”
Social distancing technology introduced to protect children on the school run
School transport specialist Kura has updated its award-winning vehicle tracking and safeguarding technology, creating a tailored solution to help schoolchildren maintain safe social distancing while using school bus services. Kura’s smart registration software allows schools to keep track of exactly who has travelled on the bus each day, to facilitate contact tracing. Updates to the service and processes mean parents can be safe in the knowledge that their children will be the Government-mandated two metres apart from the next passenger. Through these measures, combined with adapted routes, schools will be able to safely transport pupils to and from school, while maintaining social distancing measures and minimising the risk of infection. Kura is further ensuring pupil safety with a range of additional precautionary measures. These include fully-contactless registration, with children tapping on and off the bus using their pre-assigned fobs, a cap on the number of students allowed to ride on each vehicle, and each vehicle being thoroughly sanitised between journeys. Kura harnesses powerful tracking and app technologies to provide schools with a safer, greener and more cost-efficient school run service, increasing pupil uptake of school transport, reducing the need for cars and in turn reducing traffic congestion, both on the roads and at the school gates. The business manages a virtual fleet of 30,000 vehicles and, pre-lockdown, Kura’s technology was in use over 300 travel routes, providing safe home to school services for 7,000 pupils daily. Kura also continues to provide home-to-school transport services to the children of key workers attending school throughout lockdown. Using advanced geofencing technology, Kura allows schools and parents to keep track of when pupils get on and off the bus, while also providing transparent, real-time journey updates. Schoolchildren can “tap” on and off the school bus using an NFC (Near Field Communication) fob. The system then notifies trusted family members, guardians or friends in real-time when the children are boarding or alighting, in turn significantly easing parental concerns about their children’s safety when travelling to and from school without parental supervision. Mathew Hassell, founder and CEO at Kura, said: “While children getting back into the classroom is crucial for their wellbeing and future prospects, this will not have come at a welcome time for many parents required to begin going back to work, they may not always have the time for the daily school run in current circumstances, and recent days have proven that public transport options cannot be relied upon. “The UK coach and minibus industry has thousands of vehicles ready to go now, that can accommodate groups of passengers comfortably while maintaining safe social distancing measures. However, to make shared vehicles a viable option more needed to be done to enhance the safety of passengers on-board, which is why we’ve adapted our existing groundbreaking technology to specifically meet the needs of those who will need to travel to and from school over the coming months. “With walking, cycling and public transport not logistically-viable for all in the current climate, shared, school-managed transport remains a safe, greener way for pupils to reliably get to and from school, if the right precautions are put in place. With the tens of thousands of suitable school vehicles currently sitting idle, there are more than enough vehicles to transport children safely.” For more information about Kura’s COVID-19 social distancing measures, please visit https://www.ridekura.com/2020/05/safer-transport-covid-19/
One third of the population affected by schools shutdown
Over 21 million people — 11 million parents and 10 million children, or a third of the population — are being affected by schools shutdown across the UK, according to a new analysis of official government data. Up to two thirds of parents have received no contact from schools with advice about supervised learning, leaving them to fend for themselves. While schools remain open, only 180,000 vulnerable children or those of key workers attended school on average each day following the Easter holidays (21 April – 1 May). The remaining 98 per cent of school children have been forced by the coronavirus outbreak to continue their education at home under the supervision of parents and carers. The new data analysis by education campaign group Just Add Parents reveals that: 14.2 million parents with dependent children have been affected by the closure of schools and childcare services 11 million of those parents have school-age children between 5 and 18 years old 10.2 million children typically attend school, but an average of only 180,000 are currently attending — two per cent of the total During the lockdown, 98 per cent of school age children will be dependent on the support and motivation of parents to complete their schoolwork Peter Sigrist, founder of campaign group Just Add Parents, comments: “Parents have always played a vital role in their child’s education but coronavirus has harshly revealed the gap between a school’s ability to communicate and parent’s ability to teach. Schools need help to move beyond information. They need to equip parents with knowledge, confidence and clarity to make sure their children don’t lose out on a whole year of education.” A recent report from education charity the Sutton Trust (note 1) revealed half of schools (50 per cent secondary, 47 per cent primary) offer no general advice to parents about supporting learning and only one in three (36 per cent secondary, 34 per cent primary) had contacted parents to offer specific advice about supervised learning. This means parents have mostly been left to work it out for themselves. The Department for Education has published only five paragraphs of advice on “the expectations on schools regarding staying in touch with parents whose child is at home”. It contains no suggestions on how schools can help parents play the role of educators during the shutdown (note 2). The coronavirus is affecting parents and children unevenly. The Sutton Trust research reveals most parents with a degree feel confident directing their child’s learning, compared to less than half of those parents who did not attend university. Only one third of children in state schools have joined online classes during the shutdown, while over half of children in private schools have taken part daily in live or recorded online lessons. Sigrist continues: “While schools are doing their best to send information to parents and provide access to technology, from the examples we’ve seen, few appear to recognise the role that good communication plays in giving parents the support they need to build home-schooling into their already busy, stressed out schedule. All the evidence shows that clear, consistent and regular communication, whether by email, app or video, helps parents avoid becoming overwhelmed and losing confidence.” Education researchers in Latvia concluded a major study of education during their coronavirus shutdown and found a strong connection between communication and confidence (note 3). The research team at Edurio found three quarters (76 per cent) of parents who received clear communication from their school also had confidence that their children would meet their learning goals. Where school communication was completely unclear, only nine per cent of parents were confident in their children’s learning success. The same research found that while communication was the most important factor in delivering successful home-based education during the crisis, schools also need to focus on clarity over volume, with communications a few times a week almost as effective (91 per cent clear) as communication a few times a day (95 per cent clear).
Remote learning ‘Zooms’ to success
As the lockdown continues, education providers are adapting their teaching styles to ensure the continuity of learning. Keele and North Staffordshire Teacher Education (KNSTE) are utilising video remote learning to enable lessons to continue and further develop trainee’s knowledge. Director of KNSTE, Di Swift, explained: “In these unprecedented times we are taking new approaches to our teaching and utilising technology to enable remote classrooms to continue. “It is vital that our trainees are as well prepared as they can be, so that they can play their part in utilising the power of education to positively transform lives.” “We cannot pretend to replicate school-based elements of the programme online, but we can still offer high quality professional learning and development.” KNSTE have teamed up with Dialogue Works, utilising video conferencing to introduce their cohort of trainees to a metacognitive framework, based on an A-Z of ‘Thinking Moves’. This approach has helped trainees to develop their subject knowledge and lesson planning in a highly focused way. ‘Thinking Moves’ is based on Philosophy for Children, with the aim of enhancing communication and thinking skills, as well as accelerating personal, social and intellectual development. The Ultimate Guide to Personalized Tutoring: Helping Learners Reach Their Full Potential Mrs Swift continued: “We are delighted to be working with Dialogue Works to continue broadening our trainee’s knowledge through a range of interactive resources. “Metacognition capabilities plays an important role in maximizing learning – for both our trainees and their future students – and, given the current social restrictions, we are delighted to be able to continue to develop our trainee’s pedagogical understanding.” The collaboration launched to great success, with course leaders and trainees alike praising the online sessions. Following the positive feedback received, KNSTE are now exploring other online learning pathways to ensure their trainees learning experience is not disrupted. For more information about KNSTE and the courses on offer, visit: www.knste-shaw.org.uk
Wellbeing focus for Cheshire primary schools
With children and parents approaching their ninth week of school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, three Cheshire primary schools are supporting pupils and parents with wellbeing resources. A coronavirus and wellbeing page has been set up by Clutton, Little Sutton and Upton Heath Church of England Primary Schools on their websites, featuring activities for children to undertake and sources of support for mental health and wellbeing. At Little Sutton Primary School, staff have been involved in creating a wellbeing video with advice and tips for children, such as doing things that you love, getting outdoors for fresh air, exercising, keeping brains active with home learning and chatting to a grown up about any worries or fears. Upton Heath Primary School has also created a video for children, encouraging them to talk to a trusted grown up about any worries they might have. The video features KS, the monkey puppet of KidSafe UK which is a safeguarding programme utilised at Upton Heath. Learning Mentor Jan Morris explains: “Many children will be finding it very hard to be away from school for so long, away from their usual routines, their friends and their teachers. Parents and carers too will be finding this extended lockdown difficult, particularly the uncertainty of not knowing when it will end. We wanted to help parents and children to navigate this difficult time by providing curated resources to support them, and will provide add new resources each week.” “The video we created is based on a programme we utilise at Upton Heath called KidSafe. We have been delivering KidSafe sessions to the children of Upton Heath for the past 5 years, along with our puppet KS. The aim of KidSafe UK is to protect, educate and empower children. KS is well known to all the children in school and they often stop by as they are passing to say hello, offer a high five or ask how he is feeling. Yes, even the children in Year 6! He is a very valued member of Upton Heath.” “We deliver five sessions consecutively to each class, and then deliver a follow up/refresher session three months later. We are always joined by KS and the children enjoy helping him to deal with his ‘yukky feelings’. The main message that the children learn is that if they are feeling sad, scared or worried and get yukky feelings, they should say no, walk away and tell a trusted grown up. With the majority of children not at school at the moment, we wanted to create the video to remind all children of this important message.” Upton Heath, Clutton and Little Sutton Primary School have also provided school website resources on mindfulness. Year 3 teacher Ms. Dolz of Upton Heath C of E Primary School has encouraged both children and parents to utilise mindfulness, saying: “Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the here and now without judgement. It is easy when you know how, as any activity can be done with a sense of mindfulness. For example, whilst eating dinner the focus of attention can be directed to the flavours and textures of the food. This means focusing on what is happening now, not yesterday, and not tomorrow.” “Times as they are, it is even more important to focus our minds and bodies to be in the present moment, without feeling fearful about the future. Practising mindfulness is incredibly empowering to children and it can help them manage stress and anxiety. Moreover, it can help them to feel encouraged to try new things and take more risks, reduce anxiety by focusing their breathing and promote kindness as a replacement for judgement.” The wellbeing resources can be accessed on the websites for Upton Heath, Clutton and Little Sutton. Little Sutton, Clutton and Upton Heath Church of England Primary Schools are all part of The Samara Trust, a multi academy trust formed in March 2018.
The UK has paved the way to a 21st century education for all
Coronavirus has a lot to answer for, much heartache and tragic loss but one rather more positive effect has been the emergence of a truly active and enjoyable life online for many of us. Education is no exception as, enter a British man, who has miraculously turned education on its head by capturing more than 2000 students who have joined his online school, taking free, live, quality lessons, delivered by fully-qualified, volunteer teachers. His ground-breaking vision and quick-thinking actions have resulted in the creation of an online school teaching the core subjects, maths, English and science to 5-18 year olds and it only started on 20th March, at the beginning of lockdown. Apart from the core subjects, his school offers yoga and dance to keep his students on their toes and more subjects are being added to the regular timetable all the time. Latin is commencing shortly as he believes that this is an important core element of a good education. So, who is this emerging Titan of the world of teaching and learning? He is Ali Latif who comes from a middle – class British family which holds robust beliefs about the benefit of a good education. Ali is a physics graduate and holds a masters in financial economics and his family has also always placed a strong emphasis on being altruistic and giving back to society. Ali’s mother inculcated a strong desire in him to help others as she led by example and fostered children with learning difficulties for many years. In a nutshell, Ali’s mission in life is to provide a free, live, quality online education for all in the world and he is already doing so for students in 15 other countries apart from the UK. Children in remote villages in Zambia and Namibia are benefitting tremendously right now and his education tentacles are spreading fast across the globe. Can you imagine a world where all refugees receive an education despite their poor living conditions? Ali is already on it and refugees in Greece are learning as we speak! Teachers and staff at The Online School find Latif to be a charismatic and engaging leader and they are willing to contribute to his dream without pay because the ambition of educating the world for free is a bold ambition but one, they realise, that must be fully achieved as soon as possible if we are to consider ourselves a civilised society. If we have the technology to accomplish giving an education to every single person, which we do, then all we have to do is get the word out so everyone can logon; it really is as simple as that.
Daro delivers long lasting hand washing skills
Since the onset of the Coronavirus, Suffolk-based manufacturer Daro UV Systems (part of the Daro Group), has seen a sharp increase in demand for its hand inspection cabinet. In the wake of the current pandemic good hand hygiene practices have never been more important. The hand inspection unit provides a striking visual and educational aid for users by using safe UV light, and light responsive Glitterbug lotion – to highlight areas where handwashing must be improved. After washing, when hands are placed in the inspection cabinet any remaining lotion will fluoresce under the ultraviolet lamp, thus demonstrating flaws in the hand washing technique of the user. By helping pupils, teachers and support staff identify where they need to improve handwashing technique, more effective infection control can be achieved. NHS approved supplier Daro UV has been working with the NHS and schools to help teach really effective hand washing skills, and has been a trusted specialist in ultraviolet (UV) systems since 1985. The company specialises in the design and manufacture of UV products for water, air and surface disinfection and hygiene equipment – using long wave UV light. Since the onset of the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, Daro has focused its manufacturing capability to producing as many UV products as possible, including the hand inspection cabinet and a mobile disinfection unit. Mervyn Douglas, managing director of the Daro Group, said: “The Department for Education reports 60 million days are lost each year due to infections. When schools begin to open up we especially need to ensure children are properly educated on handwashing techniques, in order to protect family, friends and teachers. The hand inspection unit can be a strategic and uniquely striking educational tool in helping them visualise the dangers of bad handwashing, and creating lifelong habits. “Daro is proud to be able to deliver products that are both educational and help support the health and wellbeing of school communities.” Julian Cant, general manager at Daro UV Systems, added: “Proper handwashing can really help to reduce the spread of infections and cross contamination.” “Whenever we demonstrate the cabinet for the first time, even to workers on the frontline, they are hugely impressed by its capabilities.”
School safety: Put parents at ease with coronavirus control measures in canteens
Schools will have a phased re-opening following the coronavirus shutdown, and with the government suggesting this will begin on June 1st, a food safety consultancy has suggested school restaurants and canteens will need to respond heavily with coronavirus control measures. As pupil’s education has suffered due to the lengthy lockdown, parents’ concerns have mounted surrounding the safety in schools as they hope for their children to return. Derek Gardner, Environmental Health Consultant and a Director at Navitas, one of the UK’s leading food safety consultancies, says that parents and pupils will need reassuring upon the reopening of education facilities. With fears that a dangerous second peak could unfold if the public and the catering sector is not prepared Derek says: “It would be logical to implement strict safety measures similar to the hospitality industry in order to significantly reduce the risk of transmission. “Canteens and kitchens are naturally characterised by close physical proximity and so could pose a risk to children and staff if not correctly organized and monitored. Similarly to the hospitality sector, Navitas advises schools to implement coronavirus control measures. These include: regular staff and student health declarations upon returning to the school environment, coronavirus awareness training for staff, plus the considered appointment of a designated Covid Champion who would conduct and monitor efficient implementation of each measure. “We would also advise schools to include multiple sanitising stations around canteens and classroom areas and touchpoints such as light switches and handles. There should also be a clear system of travel and signage that displays it in these areas and reviewed seating and screening arrangements between tables. “Pre-ordering lunch from a reduced menu during morning registration could also ensure catering staff can prepare earlier on and then have a simple pick-up service.” “Moreover, increased staggering of lunch breaks would reduce numbers in the canteen at any one time, which would allow seating to be spread out and enable staff to enforce hand and tray sanitising procedures more easily.” Navitas’ are currently offering free instructions to kitchens across the UK as part of their new Covid Control certification which aims to assist catering facilities in becoming competent in safety procedures and hygiene measures surrounding Covid-19 which fall in-line with government guidelines. “In these extremely challenging times, we consider our guidance to be the best-case scenario that will enable schools to re-open their doors as safely as possible, as soon as the government allows them to do so.” Please visit www.navitas.eu.com for more information on the Covid Control certification and free practical guide.
Education sector turns to AI company to defend millions of students’ data and research
Darktrace, the world’s leading cyber AI company, has announced that more education institutions around the world are using Darktrace’s cyber AI technology to safeguard systems, student data and sensitive research from cyber-attackers as they rapidly transition to remote learning. Last month, a university in the UK was hit with an attempted ransomware attack – a kind of malware attack that strikes in seconds and blocks access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid to hackers. Hackers tried to gain access to staff and students’ computers using their own devices via an externally facing server – using a mechanism typically used by IT teams to remotely diagnose and resolve problems on employees’ computers. Once they gained a foothold, in an instant Darktrace AI spotted the attacker attempting to move laterally and log into devices in order to encrypt files that were later revealed to be PhD student research papers. Having identified the abnormal behaviour associated with the ransomware attack, Darktrace’s AI interrupted the malicious activity precisely, without disrupting the university’s normal practices. With the use of EdTech on the rise, the personal data of students and staff data, the painstaking work of researchers, as well as the very systems that make remote learning possible, are increasingly at risk in a world where data can be compromised more easily than ever. “We are seeing more and more attacks aiming to undermine data integrity and in turn, organizational reputation, which can erode trust in the education sector itself,” commented Richard Jenkins, Head of information Risk Management, Cyber Security and Governance at the International Baccalaureate. “When it matters most, we can trust that Darktrace’s AI will fight back againt fast moving attacks in seconds but crucially also spot subtle and stealthy attacks, allowing us to have full confidence in the programmes we provide.” Other organisations in the sector leveraging Darktrace’s AI technology include Eton College in the UK, Salve Regina University in the US and Girton Grammar School in Australia. About Darktrace Darktrace is the world’s leading cyber AI company and the creator of Autonomous Response technology. Its self-learning AI is modelled on the human immune system and used by over 3,500 organizations to protect against threats to the cloud, email, IoT, networks and industrial systems. This includes insider threat, industrial espionage, IoT compromises, zero-day malware, data loss, supply chain risk and long-term infrastructure vulnerabilities. The company has over 1,200 employees, 44 offices and headquarters in San Francisco and Cambridge, UK. Every 3 seconds, Darktrace AI fights back against a cyber-threat, preventing it from causing damage. For similar articles visit our features section