Building Schools for the Future isn't just about reshaping the physical environment in which children learn; it's also about rethinking the ways in which they learn. The creation of personalised learning environments will enable children to learn at their own pace, in their own time.
A learning platform brings together resources and information on a single, secure portal that teachers and students can access at school and at home. Parents can use the portal to communicate with the school, says Steve Beswick, education director at Microsoft: "They find out how their children are doing today in their assessment instead of having all these letters coming home and getting lost in the schoolbag."
It can only work, however, if all children have internet access from home. The government taskforce set up in 2007 to look into the issue is due to report in April, but the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) is already in talks with companies such as RM and Microsoft to find ways of providing access to all schoolchildren.
We have a good idea of how successful learning platforms can be from a handful of local authorities already using them. Since 2004, secondary schools in the Wolverhampton and Worcestershire local authorities have been using a learning platform known as Virtual Workspace. Used by 12,000 pupils, Virtual Workspace was developed under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) by Nord Anglia.
Virtual Workspace provides learning materials, discussion forums, instant messaging (IM) and a mentoring service provided by teachers and ex-teachers from outside the authority, says Gerard Stone, BSF programme manager: "The child can be doing the work the teacher has set them at home, not fully understand what it is they've been asked to do, and can ask the mentor, 'I've got this problem with this subject — can you help me?'. And the mentor will provide support for that."
Teachers can use Virtual Workspace to create homework, which is then marked by the system, with the results immediately communicated both to the child and the teacher electronically. "The teacher immediately has some focus in terms of providing attention where the child hasn't understood all the key points," says Stone.
So, what impact has it had? An independent assessment of Virtual Workspace by Lancaster University found that both teachers and pupils reported benefits, while a rigorous analysis of GCSE results showed that children of all abilities who used the Virtual Workspace performed better than children of equivalent abilities who didn't use it.
Other authorities are following suit. Microsoft is now working with authorities in Knowsley, Sheffield, Sandwell, Kent and Lewisham to create the next generation of learning platforms. Knowsley is replacing schools with learning centres that will be open from 7am to 10pm: children and adults alike will study using learning platforms, and teachers will be guides rather than instructors. Students, says Beswick, will be able to use communication tools such as IM to collaborate with other pupils across the world.
Not every teacher will welcome the idea of being online to answer questions at 9pm, or of children discussing their answers on forums with their fellow pupils. Beswick is optimistic, however: "Teachers are fundamental to all this working. In time, they will be facilitating a lot of what's going on, as opposed to just standing up at the front of the classroom."
