60 MILLION REASONS TO LOVE ONLINE EDUCATION!

Globally, around 1.2 billion students from around the world were forced out of school because of the COVID-19 pandemic and into online education.

The sudden shift away from the classroom required many schools to quickly adapt and fully embrace a new way of learning, including the use of new technology and online learning as a part of their day-to-day.

While this threw many schools into the digital deep-end, OneSchool Global had a slight advantage.

Well before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, online learning was already well and truly ingrained in our education program.

However, during the lockdown, OneSchool recorded a five-fold increase in Zoom lessons and a total of almost 60 million minutes of Zoom sessions over three months during the COVID-19 remote learning.

For a school system that already conducts a large volume of online senior classes, this is a massive growth.

The increase in Zoom learning for Australian schools was exponential. In 2019 alone schools across the country recorded a total 2.9 million zoom minutes.

In the 3 months between March and June alone and in the height of the country’s lockdowns, Zoom minutes sky-rocketed to 14.5 million minutes.

So, what does this mean for the future of learning?

While some may expect that the swift and unplanned move to a completely online learning environment would result in a poor learning experience, this has not been the case with One School Global.

Across the globe, OneSchool has been acknowledged for their capability in online learning. Various colleges and state associations have requested advice or assistance in developing their online learning programs, and OneSchool have been showcased in a range of webinars with education technology providers such as Canvas, Zoom, Panopto and more.

OneSchool Global Australia’s Regional Principal for Victoria, Simon Beaumont says the way in which the school community transitioned to a completely online environment and was able to keep a strong connection with both students and families was important and will only continue to evolve.

“Our school community embraced the changes and new processes bought about by COVID-19,” Simon said.

“Technology already played an important part in our learning and teaching and in communicating with students and families, and we certainly expect that to further amplify into the future.

“The statistics around Zoom minutes are quite extraordinary. Particularly because historically there has been a perception that the Plymouth Brethren community have been somewhat cautious in embracing technology.

“But we have built a global school network centred around technology-rich learning environments, with students being taught by highly skilled teachers who use the latest digital learning platforms and teaching tools.

“If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s the need to remain flexible and agile in a changing world and a changing education environment.