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A leading UK independent school is making dozens of its courses available free online, so lessons can be downloaded by pupils or teachers at other schools, reports the BBC.
The initiative by Stephen Perse Foundation School in Cambridge makes A-level, IB and GCSE courses available online, being available to download from Apple’s iTunes U service.
Principal Tricia Kelleher says: “The digital world requires teachers, like everyone else, to work differently.”
Currently, there are 87 courses freely available via the iTunesU service, covering a range of subjects including mathematical topics, History, Geography, English, RE, Music, Philosophy, French, Sciences, German, Spanish, and Digital Technology.
The news article continues reporting that Ms Kelleher, the school’s principal, said that the focus “shouldn’t be on the technology, it should always be on the learning”.
But she said teachers can be “frustrated by the static nature of traditional textbooks. They are often expensive and out of date almost as soon as they are published.”
Developing the digital course materials, which pupils can use at school or at home, has been “very positive” and rather than reducing the role of the teacher, she says that it makes the teacher “more important than ever”.
The “novelty value” stage of using technology in schools soon wears off, she says. But students and teachers are seeing the practical advantages of online, digital materials.
“We are now seeing technology in schools enter a new era.”
View the courses on iTunesU by clicking the link below.
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