(State of Victoria)
Building teachers’ capability through e-learning
The Department of Education and Training (the Department) offers learning and development support and services for anyone living in the state of Victoria, Australia. The Department is responsible for the state’s education system.
BACKGROUND
Enabling teachers to build the numeracy skills of their students
With this in mind, imc Australia partnered with the Department for the development of e-learning to build the confidence and capability of Victorian teachers to support students with learning difficulties in numeracy.
E-learning modules were developed to cover an introduction to learning difficulties in numeracy. These modules acknowledged the signs of numeracy learning difficulties, assessed mathematical skills and knowledge using the curriculum and supported students with numeracy learning difficulties in the classroom.
Difficulty in numeracy and mathematics
Students in the classroom may be experiencing difficulty with numeracy for a variety of reasons. It could be because of the presence of one more learning disability, absenteeism, sensory impairment or delayed language acquisition. Other factors include: social-emotional difficulties, issues with working memory, limited early language and literacy exposure, lower socio-economic status and disrupted learning.
Building comprehensive E-Learning modules to support Victorian teachers
imc built four online training modules using an industry standard commercial authoring tool. This tool follows a simple, linear structure and utilises a mixture of custom graphics, stock images and text on screen, with the inclusion of multimedia assets developed and provided in support by the Department.
imc provided guidance and recommendations to the Department. We also provided extensive support within the customer's Learning Management System (LMS), including survey design, data capture, reporting and coaching on how to maintain modules effectively.
Ultimately imc's final recommendation was integrating and embedding a web object by Google Forms within the solution. Survey data and reports are extracted outside the modules and shared with the Department.
Helping to build the capability of Victorian teachers
The success of the four e-learning modules was determined by the teachers’ awareness-building, knowledge transfer, and mindset shifts.
imc was measured through a variety of e-learning engagement tools to enhance the learning experience. Through elements such as videos, simulations, meaningful quiz questions and a variety of other tools that formed part of the e-learning design solution, imc was able to create a bespoke suite of modules to aid the Department’s teachers.
The Department conducted a survey of 800 teachers and principals before and after the implementation of the course. The results of the survey showed that the courses had a high acceptance rate, meaning that they were highly successful in increasing teachers’ capabilities of assessing learning difficulties in numeracy among their students.
Moreover, developing the courses helped the teachers to improve their strategies for teaching students with learning difficulties.
imc and the Department were recognised as the Gold Award winners in the 2021 LearnX awards, in the category Best eLearning Initiative: Widespread Adopter. The international award program honours innovative and creative projects in the fields of learning and design every year.