International Schools Blog

How has distance learning impacted our school communities? Maria Satirova, Psychologist at CIS International School‘s Skolkovo Campus explores the psychological impacts of lockdown for students, teachers and parents.

The global coronavirus pandemic turned education upside down in a matter of days in the spring. Suddenly schools across the world were closing their doors and sending their students and teachers home to get on with distance learning, with little time for planning or preparation. It has to be said that many educational establishments rose to the challenge magnificently. Teachers made the pivot to remote teaching and used all their creativity and ingenuity to get to grips with a new way of teaching and make sure that the education of their students continued during lockdown.

The last few months have seen huge change in international schools around the world. In a very short time, the coronavirus and global lockdowns have propelled international schools into a new world of distance learning that has changed the way teachers teach and students learn.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools and other educational establishments were forced to shift their teaching online, in many cases without advance warning or training for educators. Now that it’s been a couple of months, teachers and students are getting into the rhythm of teaching and learning from home. And, it’s a great time to take a look at some new teaching techniques – especially ones that work well with distance learning.

In their first article IB Diploma teachers Michele Lackovic and Ashley Busse shared tips for IB learners around the world to help minimise stress and maximise success in an educational landscape dominated by COVID-19. In this article, they explore how, by living the IB Learner Profile as part of their home learning, students can continue to develop themselves as active, compassionate and lifelong learners.

As we continue to support GCSE teaching and learning during COVID-19, we’re hosting free online GCSE lessons for English, Maths, and Science on our Pearson UK Learning YouTube channel.

Online lessons are now part of the ‘new normal’, when schools are closed to some or all students, and some students are shielding at home – but teaching online can be tricky. In this post, Katherine Pate, series editor for new Maths Progress International, provides tips for using Maths Progress International for online lessons.

The current news about the global reach of the pandemic is devastating and it’s challenging at times to be optimistic about the next weeks and months. Yet the well-known saying ‘every cloud has a silver lining’ means that for every difficulty or setback, there is the potential for a beneficial outcome. By searching for something positive, we can begin to feel more hopeful.

Many schools have closed their doors until at least September – and that means a lot of learning is taking place online. It’s no walk in the park; both teachers and students are facing a range of challenges with technology and pedagogy. This is especially true for modern language teachers, who not only have to navigate technology, but also make themselves understood.

We are teaching online. Exams have gone by the wayside and we have a great opportunity to do more project work with students. There is a natural fit between project learning and online learning; to make online learning work, we need to trust our students to manage the learning process more independently. Project work is a great means by which students can develop their skills as independent learners.