The first Independent Examinations Board (IEB) curriculum online high school in Africa, ConnectEd, will launch at the start of the 2021 academic year, in January.
The online high school is a joint venture between Prestigious, an independent school, Bridge House and award-winning EdTech company, Digemy.
The online school is promised to utilise a dynamic adaptive learning platform. The first pupils to experience this sort of online learning would be those in grade launch initially for grade 10 and 11, with other grades to follow next year and into 2022.
Head of college academics at Bridge House Kate Cowling said they together with Digemy have an aligned vision to change the traditional teaching model and, in the process, enable a first-rate education to be accessible to a much wider audience.
“This system does not allow for students with differing abilities to engage and absorb information at different rates, nor does it acknowledge that each student comes with their own unique background and prior knowledge. Teachers, therefore, spend a lot of time repeating content until all the students have a solid understanding of the work.
’’A second issue is that teachers are currently unable to make real-time data-driven assessments to identify which concepts individual students may struggle with as these insights are not automated and readily available,” said Cowling.
CEO of Digemy Kobus Louw said the ConnectEd platform is powered by neuroscientific algorithms that identify each student’s knowledge gaps and adapt the repetition of questions and content accordingly, providing a tailored and effective personalised learning plan.
Pupils who enrol at the school will be provided with academic content developed by Bridge House School staff. The work will be shared via multimedia micro-module lessons. Each pupil will get personalised support through a facilitators’ programme and timetabled weekly live group meets for all subjects, both of which will provide a collaborative learning community.
ConnectEd also offers curated supplementary courses in personal financial management, memory mastery and entrepreneurship, amongst others.
Head of school David Clark said: “Ultimately, we hope to engender a transformational impact. With ConnectEd, students will be carefully supported on each step of their academic journey and will have every opportunity and resource to fulfil their individual potential and prepare themselves for success in our rapidly-changing world.”