Snow days and the effective Learning Platform. What happens when you further engage students?

What happens when you further engage students in aspects of the Learning Gateway?

One interesting thing about the timing of the snow day is the fact that it followed a major launch the day before. On Wednesday 6^thJanuary we launched our new Online Options system to the whole of year 9 in assembly. We have had an Online Options system for three years at TwynhamSchool but a new build aimed at further engaging students with a face lift and new videos was quietly made live on Monday 4^th January. After the launch on Wednesday morning we would expect a surge in numbers as students can independently look at all possible GCSE subjects from both within school and at home. The statistics for the first week of spring term are below.

Statistics for the launch week of Online Options and the new site

The statistics show that students started to find the site on Monday and Tuesday when returning to school. On Wednesday and Friday when the launch plus PSHE lessons being in the IT rooms to allow students to look at the site saw 247 and 269 students visiting. What is astonishing is the highest day for visitors during the week was Thursday when 271 students visited the Online Options site even though the school was closed. The feedback on the new site has been overwhelming positive and the evidence shows that when something is both well created and seen as valuable by students they will use it heavily. With just 250 students in year 9 the vast majority visited the site on the snow day with some students from other year groups taking an inquisitive look. Looking at the number of pages viewed some students viewed as many as 280+ pages on the new site.

Student comment video on the French Options page

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