Insights丨E-Learning: A Powerful Tool for 21st Century Education

In this Educational Insights Series, experts from across the Wellington College group give advice, practical help and tips for parents who are keen to give further support for their children's learning. In this article from the series, Melissa Meyers from Wellington College Tianjin discusses a powerful tool for 21st-century learning.

From the Deputy Head of the Junior School

Melissa Meyers

One of the positives, as we traverse together through this time of uncertainty, is that it has given us all the opportunity to pause for thought and to reflect. What has become apparent over this period is our reliance on technology for connections and learning. As a result, we have been propelled to improve our technological skill sets and as our pupil's have discovered in doing so it has advanced their 21st-century skills of collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity. Educators around the world have been compelled into this method of learning due to the COVID-19 outbreak and as usual, it is our amazing pupil's who have led the way through their resilience and innovation, often under very challenging circumstances. However, through this adversity, they have succeeded. I asked our Junior School pupil leaders to reflect upon these new skills and what they feel they have learned and developed throughout this period of e-learning.   01 Collaboration As the only International Microsoft Showcase school in China the Teams platform has become a virtual classroom and a central meeting place for our pupil's to connect with their teachers and with each other. Pupils have learned how to break off into smaller groups from the main classroom using different channels or chats to work on their International Primary Curriculum (IPC) unit or project, discuss a text, figure out a mathematical problem together or practice a presentation. Recently, our pupil's showcased their (IPC) learning through multimedia presentations where their parents, teachers and peers watched them share their new knowledge and skillsets.

A Year 2 pupil group showing how to find treasure using the coordinates on a map.

Another Year 2 pupil group talking about the pirate coins they have designed.

Two Year 4 pupils sharing a ppt they have designed using their new technological skills teaching their audience about the purpose of our tongues.

Two Year 4 pupils sharing their new knowledge about the lungs.

Two pupils receive a gold award in our virtual assembly for their successful collaboration on their project work.

It has been incredible seeing our pupils from Years 2-6 working in this shared way showing patience, respect and turn-taking during a whole year level group sessions where microphones needed to be controlled and screens shared to show a ppt, form or video. It was such a pleasure to see pupils navigating their way to find a breakout group in a channel or creating a small group chat and inviting their teacher to join. The attributes and Wellington values displayed have been impressive throughout.   02 Communication Our pupils have enjoyed learning to communicate initially through the posting page and then latterly through the chat function. Work has been shared, in all forms, from voice recordings, videos, photographs, documents, PPTs and PDFs so they can show and discuss their learning with their peers and teachers. They have found that the chat function has been particularly useful to ask quick questions to clarify their understanding in learning tasks with their partners, peers and teachers. Teachers have also used this function to send praise to their pupils through the badge function. Pupils from Years 3-6 have also learned to use the Assignments tab to view their work tasks and to then submit their work in the same place and to receive feedback from their teachers through the comment box.

A Year 6 pupil sharing their review on their favourite book.

A Year 6 pupil posting a video sharing why they enjoy this book which is similar to ‘The Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ and that Weirdo is the character’s name.

Year 6 pupil research into an inventor of a form communication.

A Year 6 pupil  sharing a holiday diary.

Two groups of Year 6 pupils receiving Gold Awards during our Virtual assembly for working together to create book reports communicating why these books are their favourite.

  03 Critical thinking Our pupil's have been thinking carefully about different concepts such as floating and sinking, fractions, and how key inventions have helped us communicate. They have tested out their thinking and worked independently and together to share their discoveries. Our pupils have been challenged to experiment and to explore the resources they have found within their homes and to use them to figure out possible answers to their questions.

What floats and sinks and solving fraction problems.

04 Creativity Our pupils have not let anything stand in their way and have found innovative solutions to problems they faced.

A Year 2 pupil using his imagination to understand more about pirates. A Year 3 pupil uses pasta to create a skeleton.

A Year 6 pupil  takes the time to draw the scene he sees from the window of his grandpa’s house.

A Year 3 pupil  creates a ppt to synthesize and share her new learning.

A dance performed by a Year 4 pupil highlighting how our bones connect to form a skeleton.

05 Independence Our pupil leaders also felt that they had increased their independence in learning. They spoke about enjoying their new freedom through technology and discovering and teaching each other how to use various functions within Teams. The Milepost 3 class was quick to catch on and test out the new platform, displaying confidence and teamwork. I also joined in a Year 3 class where the session began with several pupils teaching their peers how to 1) uploadwork in to assignment area 2) how to edit online and 3) how to meet in achannel. It was wonderful to see our pupils thrive in this new environment.

Learning to cook, keep healthy, research an inventor and discover how the human body works.

The whole e-learning journey that we have embarked upon has been quite extraordinary for our pupils in the Junior School. They started out needing their parents to communicate with their teachers via Tchat, very quickly they moved to Teams and then begun to explore this platform. Just nine weeks later our pupils are showcasing their learning through multimodal and multimedia presentations via Team meetings, sharing screens and music, having rehearsed in breakout channels. I have been astonished by the ease and adeptness of even our youngest of pupils to rise to the challenge of learning through technology. They, and their parents, and teachers deserve to be applauded because as we all faced adversity, our wonderful children have just shone! Wellington Tianjin authorised as a “Microsoft Showcase School” Click and read previous post