Ed Tech Tools at Sophia High School UK
By Jennifer Callaway
At Sophia High we strongly believe in our mission to reimagine education. This begins with our reimagining of how online lessons have been defined, designed, and delivered through the use of Ed Tech Tools. Challenging these notions to create highly engaging, live, online lessons for pupils is the essential element of how our staff are trailblazers in the field of online education.
Our lessons are delivered to a very small group of students, giving plenty of time for personalised instruction, discussion, experiments, and time to work together to develop key skills and knowledge across our curricula. But how do we engage our learners from across our school, from our early years program up to Year 9? The answer is: Our use of high quality Ed Tech Tools in the hands of our qualified teachers and pupils! Coupled together, developing leaders and innovators of tomorrow and embracing the potential of our pupils as digital natives is essential to our ethos.
Firstly, our teachers are highly skilled and trained in using the Google Workspace apps for education including Google Meet, Jamboard, and Google Classroom to name just a few. These tools enable our educators to plan engaging lessons that motivate and challenge our learners.
Ed Tech Tool #1: Google Meet
Working with a partner, group work, Q & A, class polls, and shared screens are just some of the features our teachers use to engage learners in our live lessons on Google Meet. As the platform for hosting our lessons, Google Meet enables collaboration, idea sharing, and facilitation by our teachers. With cameras on, students engage with each other in their small classes including social play time outside of lesson times.
Ed Tech Tool #2: Google Jamboard
Many of our live lessons involve the use of Jamboard, which is a digital interactive whiteboard. This tool is highly engaging and collaborative where pupils can work either together or independently. Some of our favourite tools in Jamboard include the drawing pens and sticky notes. This is used across our school and pupils learn how to use the tools that allow them to be creative, express their ideas, and explore the topic being studied. In our Maths lessons, for example, students can work together at the same time on a maths problem using Jamboard.
Ed Tech Tool #3: Google Slides
Google Slides are at the heart of our bespoke Sophia digital notebooks for every one of our pupils. These digital notebooks are used across many subjects (including English and IPC & IMYC) for posting and sharing their assignments with teachers. Students’ independent and classwork includes a variety of media types such as photographs, videos, and typed work. These digital notebooks assist in making learning visible, assist in tracking student progress, and engage the personalised feedback loop between our pupils and their teachers.
Ed Tech Tool #4: Flipgrid
Flipgrid is a customisable video discussion-based platform where students can engage topics with the creation of their own videos that they can then share with their peers. Students learn how to create high quality videos using animations, sound effects, and experiment with video-editing with this platform. This provides a further differentiation tool that can facilitate the importance of student voice in teaching and learning at Sophia High School. Have a look at some of our students’ brilliant video examples below.
Ed Tech Tool #5: BookCreator
BookCreator is a digital platform that allows pupils to design, edit, and create their own e-books. The use of this tool supports the drafting and composing processes as well allowing students to create a final piece of polished work in digital form. Students can create newspapers, comics, and many other forms of texts, which can be shared with the school community.
Closing
When families join Sophia High, they are welcomed with our bespoke Google Bootcamps that train the families and students on how to help build their understanding and confidence before the first day of class. With all of these educational technology tools, teachers enhance the delivery of engaging live online lessons and students benefit from the exciting potential to interact and learn in a supported digital space.
Join us at Sophia High School
Our Team are passionate about Online Education and we would love the chance to speak with you about why online schooling may be right for your family and how it can benefit your child.
To learn more about our leading approach join us at our next virtual open house event or schedule a call today with our Admissions Team to start your child’s journey with Sophia High School. We look forward to welcoming you to our global learning community.