Case Study
Interactive learning for more diverse revision and learning
Xabia International College, Spain, wanted more diverse revision and learning materials to suit the differing needs of their cohort. “Many students travel regularly, and GCSEPod helps them to keep up with their learning and revision. I have no hesitation in recommending GCSEPod to other international schools in Spain and elsewhere.”
Details
Xabia International College
We are a small international secondary school on the Costa Blanca, Spain. Over 20 nationalities of students are represented but all classes follow the English curriculum, studying towards Cambridge IGCSE and Edexcel International exams.
Before GCSEPod, the school provided limited online resources to students, but parents were keen for the school to be providing more interactive learning opportunities, especially at home. At KS4 we were looking for more diverse revision and learning materials to suit the differing needs of our cohort, so GCSEPod provided a perfect match for us.
The roll out of GCSEPod coincided with each student in years 7-11 being issued with a tablet for use in and out of the classroom. This easy access to GCSEPod resulted in a huge uptake of GCSEPod straight away. The students reacted extremely positively, and GCSEPod quickly became part of classroom teaching (used for introductions and summaries), set as homework and incorporated into all aspects of revision planning.
Although GCSEPod was well received by students of all abilities, we discovered that it worked particularly well with our C/D students, where there was a clear correlation between those students that used GCSEPod the most and those that achieved more C grade passes than expected which clearly correlates with their usage.
As an example, one student was completely disengaged in the classroom and was a student who certainly did not want to appear to be learning or seen to try hard.
However, when we checked his usage we saw he’d watched hundreds of videos.
This student achieved far greater results than anticipated in his GCSE exams, much to the surprise and delight of his parents.
I have no hesitation in recommending GCSEPod to other international schools.
For those students for which English is a second language, GCSEPod provided additional benefits. Subject knowledge is delivered via 3-5 minute videos (Pods), combining clear images and a professionally narrated audio recording. Students hear and see precisely the key words, terminology, dates and facts for each individual topic in bite size chunks, exactly the right length to keep their attention. We found that second language students’ comprehension, pronunciation and learning improved, particularly in subjects like Science, which is very difficult for students to access through other means.
Parents have been hugely gratified that the school has a resource which students can use at any time.
Many students travel to other countries regularly to see family, and listen to the Pods on their mobile phones or tablets whilst travelling, helping them to keep up with their learning and revision (rather than using their weight allowance for heavy textbooks).
The Results
Interestingly, when we subscribed to GCSEPod, a lot of the teachers noted that they’d already used GCSEPod successfully in their previous schools and they were delighted that we had decided to buy. In fact, our last five appointments from the UK have all used GCSEPod in their previous schools and were surprised and thrilled to see it at a small international school!
What could we help your school achieve?
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