Picture the scene: it’s a
cold rainy day and you are sitting at home, logged on to school on the internet
with a lovely warm cup of coffee. It is perfectly acceptable to sit in maths class
in your pyjamas along with other students who live all around the world. No, I
am not crazy and nor is this a dream.
This is online schooling and
it is tipped to become the future for learning.Online school Interhigh
opened its virtual doors in September 2005 and since then has offered a
complete secondary school education to more than 1,902 students worldwide.
Currently, there are 350
students aged between ten and 18 attending Interhigh. It is one of a handful of
internet-based schools in the UK and I chose to attend it following a period of
dissatisfaction with the local schools in the Isle of Man and to avoid the
disruption that moving islands would have on my education. The education
follows the National Curriculum, students are entered for International GCSEs
in Year 11 and the exams are sat at a local examination centre – for me, this
was Highlands College.As all you need is a
suitable internet connection, and then you can ‘go’ to school anywhere in the
world. Interhigh offers ‘everything you expect to see in a traditional school,
from subject lessons, to homework, school plays and exams’, explains Jacqueline
Daniell, Interhigh director. Each morning, students log on to virtual classrooms
at 9.25 and lessons begin at 9.30, lasting until early afternoon. Lessons are
entirely interactive and delivered by teachers who are present in the virtual
classroom and ready to respond to any questions students may have. There are 17
classrooms that are split into three areas: voice, text and work. However, some
classrooms have other facilities to suit different lesson types,
including videoconferencing, screen-sharing and breakout discussion boards. The
classes are limited to a maximum of 18 students, with most classes having far
fewer than that, so students benefit from small class sizes and more support
from the teachers. For the shyer students, the private message facility enables
them to ask questions which they might, in conventional schools, have kept to
themselves in fear of negative reactions from other students. Its positive
atmosphere and friendly ethos immediately struck me. Previously, I had been
educated at two schools in the Isle of Man
where I had faced hostility from my peers for being conscientious.
At Interhigh,
things couldn’t have been more different.
On my first day, I was greeted by messages like ‘Hi Zoe’ and ‘Here if you need any help’by all my fellow students, known as ‘Interhighers’, many of which I still keep in contact with nearly two years later. I was overwhelmed by the caring and supportive environment that Interhigh offers, both from the staff and the pupils. It was a far cry from some other schools in the Isle of Man that I had attended.
The examination experience was also far less daunting than I had expected, as I was one of few students taking the International GCSEs in Jersey among some home-schooled students.At Interhigh, there is no time spent chucking chairs about, spending countless hours running round a freezing cold crosscountry pitch or waiting for teachers who often failed to turn up for lessons. Instead, learning is focused and the numbers of lessons are kept to a minimum within a day so that work can be consolidated. But there is still plenty of time for fun. Each year, Interhigh invites teachers, students and their families to descend on the small town of Brecon for a weekend of socialising, activities and extremely good food. The Interhigh Weekend has become a landmark in Interhighers’ calendars, and my favourite weekend was when I was crowned Prom Queen in 2012. The opportunities for making friends don’t just occur at the Interhigh Weekend. Weekly common room sessions, often with visiting speakers, offer students opportunities to chat to friends and get involved with clubs to make the most of their internet schooling experience. The principal of Interhigh, Paul Daniell, says that Interhigh has recently become UKAS ISO9001 accredited, ‘which is an international quality assessment that we are very proud of ’. The high-quality education seems to cultivate the type of student who wants to work without any of the time-wasting that can occur in a normal school.
However, I am not suggesting that online schooling suits everyone, as this method of learning does require a great deal of selfdiscipline. Students have to resist the temptation to wander onto Facebook or grab a couple of biscuits during lesson times. Instead, it appeals to expats, those with disabilities and certain types of people who for whatever reason may be better suited to the friendly and stable environment of an internet school. When results day came, my online schooling experience came to a very positive ending. Needless to say, I was confident that Interhigh had provided me just as good an education, if not better, than my previous schools.
Although I am now loving my time at Hautlieu studying the International Baccalaureate, I see my experiences at Interhigh as unforgettable and a crucial partof how I got to where I am today. The recent news that leading UK universities are offering their degree courses online does not come as a shock to me. I see that the world of online schooling is becoming just as important as the conventional ‘bricks and mortar’ school and it’s time we all embrace what virtual learning has to offer.
Zoe Beer
Jersey Evening Post
On my first day, I was greeted by messages like ‘Hi Zoe’ and ‘Here if you need any help’by all my fellow students, known as ‘Interhighers’, many of which I still keep in contact with nearly two years later. I was overwhelmed by the caring and supportive environment that Interhigh offers, both from the staff and the pupils. It was a far cry from some other schools in the Isle of Man that I had attended.
The examination experience was also far less daunting than I had expected, as I was one of few students taking the International GCSEs in Jersey among some home-schooled students.At Interhigh, there is no time spent chucking chairs about, spending countless hours running round a freezing cold crosscountry pitch or waiting for teachers who often failed to turn up for lessons. Instead, learning is focused and the numbers of lessons are kept to a minimum within a day so that work can be consolidated. But there is still plenty of time for fun. Each year, Interhigh invites teachers, students and their families to descend on the small town of Brecon for a weekend of socialising, activities and extremely good food. The Interhigh Weekend has become a landmark in Interhighers’ calendars, and my favourite weekend was when I was crowned Prom Queen in 2012. The opportunities for making friends don’t just occur at the Interhigh Weekend. Weekly common room sessions, often with visiting speakers, offer students opportunities to chat to friends and get involved with clubs to make the most of their internet schooling experience. The principal of Interhigh, Paul Daniell, says that Interhigh has recently become UKAS ISO9001 accredited, ‘which is an international quality assessment that we are very proud of ’. The high-quality education seems to cultivate the type of student who wants to work without any of the time-wasting that can occur in a normal school.
However, I am not suggesting that online schooling suits everyone, as this method of learning does require a great deal of selfdiscipline. Students have to resist the temptation to wander onto Facebook or grab a couple of biscuits during lesson times. Instead, it appeals to expats, those with disabilities and certain types of people who for whatever reason may be better suited to the friendly and stable environment of an internet school. When results day came, my online schooling experience came to a very positive ending. Needless to say, I was confident that Interhigh had provided me just as good an education, if not better, than my previous schools.
Although I am now loving my time at Hautlieu studying the International Baccalaureate, I see my experiences at Interhigh as unforgettable and a crucial partof how I got to where I am today. The recent news that leading UK universities are offering their degree courses online does not come as a shock to me. I see that the world of online schooling is becoming just as important as the conventional ‘bricks and mortar’ school and it’s time we all embrace what virtual learning has to offer.
Zoe Beer
Jersey Evening Post
