Cambridge Education Guide - Autumn/Winter 2020 WEB

47

TECHNOLOGY

to finding a way through a particularly challenging homework assignment. But perhaps most useful of all, technology is coming to the rescue of children who are away from school, haven’t fully understood a topic or who are revising for an exam. In the past, pupils who were off sick might have been sent an email telling them what they’d missed and asking them to read a textbook to catch up. Not any longer. Instead, schools are looking at making it possible for pupils to log into lessons, watch them live and even play them back if a subject needs clarification. The result is the creation of a revision resource far superior to anything previously available.

Teams by using it as a homework tool. Other schools are starting to make more use of livestreaming, so that specialist teachers, for example, can deliver lessons to multiple classes simultaneously, enabling staff with a particular passion or specialism to share their expertise much more widely. Collaborative technology is becoming more widely used, spanning everything from after-school and project group work to one-two-one sessions between teachers and students. Parents and students can contact their teachers through functionalities such as the chat space and get quick, succinct answers and feedback, from querying a deadline on an assessment

lockdown and that effective virtual learning and online lessons were up and running immediately. Existing online resources were scaled up to create extensive home learning programmes, in some cases covering not just academic subjects but co-curricular activities as well, from choral singing to virtual sports days. It is reassuring to know that if lockdown were to happen again (something nobody wants), schools would be ready. The longer- term benefit is that now school life is back to normal – or as close to normal as it gets – technology will play a bigger role in school life than ever before. Some schools are building on teachers’ excellent working knowledge of Microsoft

CAMBRIDGE EDUCAT ION GUIDE

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