Pearson Fronter specialises in simple tools for secure online education and collaboration in specific virtual ‘rooms’. Its Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) gives students, teachers and parents access to communications, assignment submission, planning and shared resources. Here, eLearning Africa shows how introducing this platform in a school in the United Arab Emirates is helping to meet the educational needs of the children and connect the wider school community.
The British School Al Khubairat is a British curriculum school catering to students from age 3 to 18-years-old. It is the most established school in Abu Dhabi, with excellent facilities and an enviable reputation across the region and internationally.
BSAK was established in 1968 on land generously donated by the then ruler of Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh bin Sultan Al Nahyan. It now has nearly 1,800 students, of more than 50 nationalities who benefit from the highest quality British education in a truly multi-cultural environment.
“Academic standards are high. Students attain standards above or well above government schools in England; standards also compare favourably with those of the independent sector in the UK.”
Penta International inspection report
April 2008
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Pearson is proud to be the Gold sponsor for eLearning Africa. Please visit our exhibit booth to learn more about our collaborative teaching and learning solutions for online and blended learning environments. Our award-winning educational technologies from EQUELLA, Fronter, Pearson LearningStudio and MyLabs are used by millions worldwide because we ensure our products are easy-to-use, and deliver measureable success.”[/callout]
The Fronter school community at BSAK
Year Classrooms: One of the key elements in the successful implementation and quick takeoff of Fronter at BSAK has been the creation of the Rooms for each Year Group. The rooms contain thematic Learning Zones; Learning and Organizational Toolkits which contain a blog, external and internal links, a calendar, and notes; and icons for entry into different content learning Rooms. There’s even an area in each Room for students to support each other in achievements.
Currently Year6 is learning in the blended Fronter environment. Year5 and Year4 are due to incorporate the use of Fronter into daily lessons, followed shortly by Year3 and Year2. Students and teachers are excited about using Fronter to enhance teaching and learning.
BASK Fronter users
Learners
Learners log into Fronter and have access to certain rooms depending on their age, class and level. Some of the rooms they can access are:
- Year Group Rooms which are color-coded by house name and which contain information about lessons or download/upload assignments
- Photo galleries about students, staff, clubs, and sporting events
Parents
Parents will be able to use Fronter to access relevant information about their child/children, school information, and newsletters according to when their child’s year group comes online.
Teachers
The teachers have a private Staff Room where important information is shared. Access to this room is customised so that information is kept confidential and not available to parents and students.
“All the teachers and students keep asking when they will be allowed to use Fronter in their own classes.”
Dan Batson
ICT Coordinator
British School Al Khubairat
Keys to effective change management
The successful implementation of the Fronter VLE at BSAK was clearly due to the SLT team communicating the vision, the mission and the objectives of change. The enabled staff, children and parents to understand how these changes will affect them personally, how the teaching and learning environment would change, and what the outcomes would be. By giving support, encouragement and time from the highest level British School Al Khubairat has successfully implemented the Fronter VLE.
Copyright: Pearson
