Online Learning with the IB Diploma Expands in International Schools

With online learning an increasingly fundamental part of higher education and the workplace, schools are beginning to recognize its importance as a part of the curriculum.  International schools in particular, are helping to lead the way, with an increasing number embracing this new way of learning and teaching.   The Benefits of Online Learning   Online learning benefits both students and schools. It offers opportunities for students to develop valuable technology and self-management skills in preparation for independent learning at university and in the world of work. It offers schools the chance to provide an expanded range of subject options for 16-18 year olds that for many smaller or newer international schools can be one of their most challenging issues. And it moves the school towards providing a more blended approach to learning; combining traditional face-to-face classroom teaching with virtual learning and in so doing responding to the learning needs and preferences of today’s digital-age students.     Online learning with the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program   The International Baccalaureate (IB) has been responding to this move for the past five years, offering an increasingly extensive range of online International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) subject courses for its students. These are all delivered by online course provider Pamoja Education which has created IBDP courses to ensure students are able to communicate effectively and fully engage in their learning through a range of innovative online educational tools.   In participating schools, students can choose to take one or more of their IB Diploma Program subjects – for the entire two year period of study – via the virtual classroom. They learn in class sizes of between 15 and 25 students, working alongside online classmates who are based in other schools around the world.   Their teacher is an experienced, qualified IB subject teacher who guides them throughout the course via a range of e-dialogue. This includes live online lessons which allow students synchronous time with their teacher and classmates, weekly assignments including online class discussions and blog entries, and learning activities that students work on either alone, with their classmates or with their teachers.   The students have structured yet flexible learning weeks, meaning that they have a weekly learning schedule to complete, but which can be undertaken at a time and place that best suits each individual.    

 

Growth and Success Interest in the IBDP online course options is growing significantly, based on student and school success. In the May 2013 IBDP examinations,  83.5% of online students achieved a grade 4 or above, comparing very favourably with 78.5% for all IBDP students.   This academic year there are 1,400 students from over 300 schools participating in IB Diploma Program online subject courses. Tana Monk from the Philippines is one of them. Tana is a first year IBDP student studying two courses online; Business and Management and Economics. “I was expecting for the IB [Diploma] to be really difficult, and that doing it online would make it even harder,” she says. “But once I dove into the course and got familiar with the site, I found that it was really easy and organized. Pamoja Education’s program has a lot of tools that help you to communicate with your classmates and with your teacher. So whenever you need help or advice, you can contact them and they’ll get back with you right away and help you as much as they can. I also like how the lessons are set up, because you can go at your own pace as long as you get everything done by the end of the week.”   Tana says being in a genuinely global classroom has helped to give her a more international view of the subjects she is studying.  “I get to see the world from many different cultural perspectives, meet different people and even make friends,” she says.   Several international schools in Southeast Asia, including the Canadian International School in Singapore, the International School of Phnom Penh and the International School Bangkok are already offering online learning options for their students.    

 

In Preparation for University   How is online learning helping the IBDP students once they reach university? Past international student María Fernández-Martos Balson, who studied IB Mathematics Higher Level online and is currently an Engineering student at the University of Cambridge in England, reflects on her online learning experience: "The flexible pace of an online course suited me well. I quite liked being able to skip or revisit topics, as necessary. Being able to submit questions in video format was also very useful. My teacher was extraordinary – very talented and extremely supportive. This is not something my school would have been able to provide otherwise. I am currently studying Engineering at the University of Cambridge. I do think that the Pamoja Education online course benefited my application: it shows that I can adapt to a new learning environment quickly, and that I am a proactive learner. The online Mathematics HL course has prepared me for university in ways that a traditional course cannot, both in terms of the quality of the teaching, and of the time management skills that I developed during the course."    

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Find Out More   Students considering online learning as part of their IBDP may wish to find out more from students already learning this way. More information is available from www.pamojaeducation.com