Online learning courses are being utilised by students at Holywell High School in Flintshire in an effort to improve their science skills.
The education centre is seeking to introduce more e-learning into its teaching practices and so pupils in both Year 10 and 11 are being given the opportunity to complete six 45-minute sessions after school, the Flintshire Chronicle reports.
These are designed to test their knowledge of chemistry and also flag up any areas of weakness in their skillset. Their teachers will then review these online assessments, which gives them an insight into how the youngsters are progressing.
Once the tests have been completed, the results are used to tailor the remaining assessments so they focus on the needs of the students attending. It is hoped this interactive element will help everyone at the school achieve the best possible results when they come to sit their science GCSEs.
At the moment, the online assessment is a trial and the additional cost of teaching is being covered by the institution free of charge. Moving forward, it is intended to function as an extra support to help build "confidence and capability" in science, one of the core subject areas that kids are taught.
Head of science at Holywell High School Cerasela Raducanescu told the paper: "Our students have really enjoyed working online, they have found it engaging - it's a medium with which they are very comfortable. The workshops have been very valuable to them and I am confident that it will have a positive impact on their outcomes."
There are a number of reasons why e-learning is useful for schools. As well as being cost-effective, because it uses the internet pupils can also work on projects outside of normal school hours.
The beauty of doing courses with Virtual College - a West Yorkshire-based organisation that provides a range of e-learning modules - is that they come with a well implemented Learning Management System, which means it is easy to track progress.