It's school, but not school as we know it

An innovative, on-line learning programme to assist teenage students back into education was launched last week by Education Minister Trevor Mallard.

From July, 100 students in Auckland and Wellington who are not engaging or achieving well in mainstream education will be involved in the $2.5 million two-year Notschool.net pilot programme.

Notschool.net is a secure online learning programme available to 13 to 16 year-olds in their own homes 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The students involved will be provided with a range of Information Communication Technology (ICT) equipment and a fast internet connection in their homes to assist their learning.

They will be encouraged and guided by mentors and subject experts; this mentoring and accompanying assessment and learning resources will be available to them at any time of the day or night.

They can also talk on-line to other students involved in the programme in a secure environment.

Mr Mallard said Notschool.net was developed by Ultralab, a learning and research centre based in the UK, and, since its beginning four years ago, the UK programme had successfully involved more than 900 students.

"Notschool.net is an exciting approach to learning with a track record of improving outcomes for significantly disadvantaged students," Mr Mallard said.

The rate of dropout was low with the latest figures showing 99 percent of Notschool.net UK students achieving formal accreditation at nationally recognised levels by the time they reached the statutory leaving age.

"Through this New Zealand pilot we want to extend new learning opportunities for our most at-risk students and take stock of what works best for them via associated research," Mr Mallard said.

"Ultimately we want to extend the range of alternative education options currently available, and further develop knowledge around the use of ICT in delivering effective distance learning."

Click on the link for more information on Notschool.