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Paul Keenleyside
What do we do?
• Undertake action research to increase knowledge about online and blended education to improve the impact these have on children and young people.
• Pilot and evaluate innovative projects to further the development of online and blended education education.
• Disseminate the results to educationalists so that we can create meaningful change
What the National Foundation for Education Research found about online education during lockdown
Pupil engagement online is lower in schools with the highest levels of deprivation:Schools with the highest levels of deprivation report 13 percentage point lower levels of pupil engagement than schools in the middle quintile.
Having no access to technology lowers engagement – and reinforces disadvantage.Teachers report that the following proportions of disadvantaged pupils are less engaged in remote learning than their classmates:• 81% - Pupils with limited access to IT and/or study space – reported as around 25% of the cohort• 62% - Vulnerable pupils • 58% - Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities • 52% - Pupils eligible for Pupil Premium (additional ) funding • 48% - Young carers
Talking to someone matters Schools delivering learning content to pupils through online conversations (as part of a range of measures), have higher general pupil engagement levels (five percentage points) and an increased probability of having highly engaged disadvantaged pupils (eight percentage points).
www.nfer.ac.uk/schools-responses-to-covid-19-pupil-engagement-in-remote-learning/
Ensuring access to technology is key, particularly for disadvantaged pupils It is important that support is provided to ensure that disadvantaged pupils – who are more likely to face these barriers – have access to technology.
Peer interactions can provide motivation and improve learning outcomes Multiple reviews highlight the importance of peer interaction during remote learning, to motivate pupils and improve outcomes.
Supporting pupils to work independently can improve learning outcomes Pupils learning at home will often need to work independently.
Teaching quality is more important than how lessons are delivered Pupils can learn through remote teaching. Ensuring the elements of effective teaching are present – for example clear explanations, scaffolding and feedback – is more important than how or when they are provided.
Different approaches to remote learning suit different tasks and types of content Approaches to remote learning vary widely and have different strengths and weaknesses.
Education Endowment Foundation (2020) Remote Learning, Rapid Evidence Assessment, London: Education Endowment Foundation.
So we have been refining what we think needs to happen – taking into account the experiences of schools and in delivering online education to vulnerable and neuro-diverse young people. We know that four things have to be in place:
Digital Capability
Digital Literacy
Personal Wellbeing
Great learning, teaching and assessment
Barriers to Implementation
Barriers to Implementation
We have taken the ‘closest’ online delivery system we have – the Nisai Virtual
Academy – and ‘reverse engineered’ its design to improve the integrity of support
to neuro-diverse and non-typical learners using ‘Universal Design for Learning’.
We looked at:
• the ‘micro’ level (in the synchronous classroom/learning space)
• the ‘macro’ level (in the design of whole learning programmes and learning
environment including the integration of assistive and supportive technologies..
Teacher experience - all had multi-year specialist experience
Learner cohort:
• 50% with external identified SEMH
• A third with identified Autistic spectrum condition
• 15% identified Specific Learning Difficulties
• Almost 40% with medical needs and/or chronic fatigue syndrome
• Almost 60% acknowledging intense anxiety - especially around relationships
and their education
Provide multiple means of
Representation
Provide multiple means of
Action & Expression
• Students have autonomy over their workspace to lessen
anxiety, personalise it make it welcoming
• Each learner can elect to engage in the classroom in a
different way
• Programs are set up for each individual learner based on
their assessment profile
Recruiting Interest:Classroom
• There is a shared ‘Goals’ area for each learner and these are referred too in each session
• There is a focus on Wellbeing and non academic goals• Achievement in soft skill acquisition is celebrated and
accredited• All assignments are referenced against learner Goals• Tribes create a sense of identity and community
• Self reflection ‘How did you do’ on each assignment• Individual adult mentor support is available daily• Option to be RO ‘Recordings Only’ if live interaction is
challenging• No environmental anxiety e.g. time out when needed• All mentors and teachers have detail on engagement
strategies for each learner
• Learners can personalise the classroom and their view of key interaction points with the virtual academy i.e. timetable and well-being areas.
• Text colour/size and screen ‘overlays’ are all adjustable by the learner
• Recordings can be used to revisit sessions • Teachers use different methods of interaction through
out sessions including different file types/images/videos
• All live lessons are recorded and come with a written description
• Many different options for point of contact (teacher, mentor, welfare support team) which allows a learner to seek out different communication styles
• ESOL and language acquisition support and technology is available where required – includes Units of Sound
• Enriched literacy environment using applied Assistive Technology – WordQ
• Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) and an Initial Assessment (IA) ensures accurate profile
• Learning objective acquisition is tracked by the mentors within the MIS system
• Specific, individualised feedback and recap sessions to ensure comprehension
• Live lessons used to check comprehension immediately, including through learner demonstration, questioning and peer to peer activities.
• Use microphone, public and private chat in lesson• Variety of group and independent work• Written work – variety of short and long answers• Interactive• Engagement monitoring within lessons• Homework club
• Use microphones, public and private chats, and the board in lesson. There is facility to Hand write/create and then scan or photo and send in
• Outside of class learners can use (closed and secure) Email, Chill Out Zone, and call teachers through a secure VOIP phone system
• Use Microsoft or an alternative software system with integrated Assistive Technology
• Use of online tools e.g. Prezi, YouTube
• All teaching staff operating through Blooms taxonomy• SOW and planning are not rigid but alter and develop to
meet the needs of each learner as they work through the course
• Self Evaluation Reporting at three key points in the academic year
• SMART targets for each learner
Sustaining effort and Persistence
Self Regulation
Perception
Language and Symbols
Comprehension
Physical Action
Expression and Communication
Executive Functions
Provide multiple means of
Engagement
• Self reflection ‘How did you do’ on each assignment• Individual adult mentor support is available daily• Option to be RO ‘Recordings Only’ if live interaction is
challenging• No environmental anxiety e.g. time out when needed• All mentors and teachers have detail on engagement
strategies for each learner
Self Regulation
Provide multiple means of
Engagement
Provide multiple means of
Engagement
Sustaining effort andPersistence
• There is a shared ‘Goals’ area for each learner and these are referred too in each session
• There is a focus on Wellbeing and non academic goals• Achievement in soft skill acquisition is celebrated and
accredited• All assignments are referenced against learner Goals• Tribes create a sense of identity and community
Provide multiple means of
Representation
Comprehension
• Learners can personalise the classroom and their view of key interaction points with the virtual academy i.e. timetable and well-being areas.
• Text colour/size and screen ‘overlays’ are all adjustable by the learner
• Recordings can be used to revisit sessions • Teachers use different methods of interaction through
out sessions including different file types/images/videos
Perception
• Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) and an Initial Assessment (IA) ensures accurate profile
• Learning objective acquisition is tracked by the mentors within the MIS system
• Specific, individualised feedback and recap sessions to ensure comprehension are put in the diary
• Live lessons used to check comprehension, including through learner demonstration, questioning and peer to peer activities.
Provide multiple means of
Representation
Provide multiple means of
Action & Expression
Executive Functions*
• Use microphones, public and private chats, and the board in lesson. There is facility to Hand write/create and then scan or photo and send in
• Outside of class learners can use (closed and secure) Email, Chill Out Zone, and call teachers through a secure VOIP phone system
• Use Microsoft integrated Assistive Technology• Use of online tools e.g. Prezi, YouTube
Expression and Communication
• SOW and planning are not rigid but alter and develop to meet the needs of each learner as they work through the course
• All teaching staff use and plan using Blooms taxonomy• Self Evaluation Reporting at three key points in the
academic year – this integrates in to the teacher reporting
• All targets are SMART
We think that engaging with UDL in the online education space has the potential to make a real difference as a significant number of children and young people with additional needs remain online -and we expect more will become educated online.
There are 3 key areas where we are going to focus on developing understanding of ‘best practice’:
- integrating Assistive Technologies into lessons and developing teacher comfort around their deployment. The potential for real time research and collaborative learnings are massive!
- Making the best use of technology and teaching options around different languages, types of communication and using symbols.
- The potential to use flipped classrooms and self-directed tasks as part of supporting the development of Executive Functioning
What next?
