School in Focus - celebrating success in schools

Tideway School

Thanks to an arson attack 18 months ago that left 80 per cent of the school buildings uninhabitable — and as yet still damaged — Tideway School on the cliffs above Newhaven hardly looks like it's at the cutting edge. However, appearances can be deceptive; enter the East Sussex school's virtual world and you'll find a very different place emerging. While most schools are just starting to understand what the term 'Virtual Learning Environment' means ahead of DfES targets for universal VLE installation in 2008, Tideway is at the forefront of experimenting with its system.

Virtual Learning Environment

"As a school we take a long-term view of how we're going to develop," says Jim Fanning, Assistant Head with responsibility for the school's Technology College status. Following first-hand experience of using a VLE when studying for a MEd in Technology Enhanced Learning, Jim shares his experience with the school. All students at the 700-pupil school have access to the VLE that contains their email account, debating chambers, subject rooms and message boards. Around 80 per cent of pupils have home access and the others are supported by the evening opening of the ICT suite, when possible. (The school is also hoping to trial a cyber café in the near future.)

Last autumn (2005) the school employed four eModerators to monitor and support remote use of the VLE by students. The eModerators were former students who could offer a range of subject expertise to support KS4 pupils with their research and learning via the VLE. Each was initially employed for three hours, one evening a week, and would also be moderating live debates on discussion forums. Students could upload work for e-Moderators to check and also be helped to find other resources on the school network or web.

"We were a bit naïve," says Jim. "We thought that youngsters would come online at a particular time in the evenings but in fact they dip in and out when they feel like it."

Increasing take-up

Jim explains that it quickly became apparent that out-of-hours uptake was low. "We'd assumed we'd get 20 to 50 students at any time but we were getting very low figures. We realised we needed to be more focussed," he says. The eModerators' online time needed to become shorter to increase support take-up so the school swapped from broad access to two, one-hour sessions on a Thursday and Sunday when students were more likely to be tackling their homework. The sessions were also promoted via email to ensure higher take up.

As well as tailoring its student support timing, Tideway has also improved how support is given. "eModerators have learned not to just give the answers but to work as facilitators to help the students find the resources they need themselves," says Jim. "We're getting the message across to students that they can learn through having a conversation."

Impacting attainment

The school has also begun to use the VLE forums to help with out-of-hours curriculum support. For example, at exam or coursework time, a member of the English department is online once a week to help with advice and support and the VLE is used to upload support materials on KS4 study texts. "This was particularly useful for the C-/D-grade borderline students," says Jim. As a result of this (and other support work) the school has seen English literature GCSE results improve in 2005-6 from 45 to 66 per cent achieving grade C and above.

In spring 2006, the Social Education department used the VLE's message boards to hold a KS4 PSHE-linked discussion about sexuality, believing that students may be more prepared to contribute if the debate was online rather than class-based. The eModerators oversaw the discussion and Jim says it was a good learning experience. "We'd expected 50 per cent of the cohort would come online but in fact only 10-12 per cent did." However, around 60 per cent of students 'lurked' or watched the debate without participating. "The downside of this kind of debate is that students might feel that they're being watched," Jim adds.

For teachers, the VLE projects have helped them to understand that the VLE is not just a repository, says Jim. "It's not just for them to upload and students to download, it's a live and active exchange." To this end, this autumn, the history department is running a Holocaust Project for Year 11 via the VLE. One strand has been a visit to Tideway by holocaust survivor Josef Perl which led to an online evening debate. In November, the four eModerators and Jim will visit Auschwitz and a handful of students will visit the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam to gather material and live interviews to post on discussion boards. The will also use this in live conferences to help their peers with their GCSE study. The project is ongoing and will hopefully benefit next year's students (and those that follow) to access real and useful resources. As Jim says, "Using the technology could have a direct impact on attainment."