COVID-19 has meant that teachers and students have had to quickly adapt to new ways of learning. Galston High School has always taken a technology-driven approach to learning, investing in innovative programs, hardware and online resources to make its students 21st century learners. As education has temporarily moved to learning from home, Galston High School students have shown just how capable they are: utilising the many online resources the school provides, students have logged some truly impressive statistics.
Education Perfect, an online resource for English, Maths, Science, HSIE and PD/H/ PE in Years 7-10, has been especially well received by students since its introduction this year at Galston High School. During recent learning at home, students have logged 3,809 hours online with 8,322 logins during which they have completed 1,007 activities and completed a staggering 638,999 questions!
It’s not just the numbers that tell the story of the rapid uptake and engagement of students. Ella Moussa of Year 7 commented “I thought this was amazing and really helpful to learn online, anytime, anywhere.” Michelle Huang, also of Year 7, commented “I like [learning online] because it feels like a normal class except I’m reading it myself. It provides good quality information with what I just learnt.”
Not to be outdone by the juniors, the senior students have been working consistently on Edrolo, a platform that provides video and quiz based content for HSC subjects. So far, Year 11 and 12 Galston High school students have viewed 36,466 videos and quizzes.
Edmodo, the school’s platform for distributing learning and communicating, has been equally busy with 3,791 notes and 6,077 replies posted by the teachers of Galston High School, keeping students up-todate, informed and connected throughout the current disruptions to face-to-face teaching.
Also new to Galston High School’s digital resources this year is Grammarly, an online spelling and grammar checker used to help students polish their writing. To date, students have checked a whopping 7,258,828 words using the resource and reviewed more than 39,111 alerts.
“Our investment in digital learning has been especially valuable during these unprecedented times,” said Ms Jillian Tourlas, principal. “We provide these online tools to all our students as a part of our regular teaching and learning at Galston High School. It has been wonderful to see the commitment of our students, and support of our parents, during learning from home.”
“We are now transitioning back to regular face-to-face teaching, in line with the state and federal government’s plan. It’s great to see students back in the classroom,” she added.
