School Guide

Bringing Life to Online Learning

Published by SchoolAdvisor | May 22, 2020

The Malaysian, MCO and subsequent CMCO has made long term online access to lessons a necessity for school children to keep progressing in their learning as they should. 

Government and International schools face the challenge of continuing to motivate children and deliver the curriculum through a virtual learning experience - something that many schools had never tried or tested before this MCO period in Malaysia.

International schools in Malaysia have certainly adapted quickly to offer learners from as young as pre-schoolers to pre-university, a ‘Continuation of Learning’ programme that they can access from their homes. From English to Art, Physical Education to Coding Classes and even social circle meetings between classmates, the variety of approaches adopted by teachers are aplenty and wonderful innovations are taking place.

This could be the new norm. The skills of innovation and adaptability are becoming more and more important for our learners to achieve.

 

Innovating Learning for more than 10 years 

Accredited as one of the first Apple Distinguished Schools in Malaysia, Nexus International School has pioneered innovative online learning approaches throughout its establishment of more than 10 years in Malaysia.

The move towards delivering a fully online curriculum was undoubtedly challenging even for an international school of its stature, but the Nexus community has worked together and with regular communication between learners, teachers, parents and leaders has enabled Nexus to continue to improve its online delivery each day.

Online Lessons that Come to Life

Driven by the Nexus Way, it’s teachers continuously explore innovative teaching methodologies to keep learners engaged online.

For example, the Nexus Year 4 learners recently went on a virtual school trip to the Great Barrier Reef as part of their International Primary Curriculum (IPC) topic, Explorers and Adventurers.

The video below depicts how the teachers created a buzz around the virtual trip through a teaser video which eventually led to a wonderful, exciting learning experience for all.

 

This video below depicts how the teachers created a buzz around the virtual trip through a teaser video which eventually led to a wonderful, exciting learning experience for all.

 

During their ‘visit’ to the Great Barrier Reef, learners discovered how tourism could generate money for a community and weighed this with the potential impact that tourism can have on the environment. Technologically savvy, Nexus teachers used Google Earth so that learners could take a look at their environment and Youtube 360 videos so that they could swim with dolphins, sharks and turtles!

Fostering Collaborative Learning Online

The social aspect of online learning is an important one to consider in a child’s daily schedule.

Nexus fosters small group sessions on Google Meet, which are facilitated by teachers and promote social interaction and collaboration among the Primary learners. Collaborative research activities and regular, pastoral meetings with tutors are organised for Secondary learners.

Teachers often use shared “live” whiteboards that require learners to collaborate on an idea together. For Computer Science learners at Nexus, a programme called Repl.it is used to enable learners to code together in the same programme and use a chat function to collaborate and solve a coding problem set by their teacher.

Opportunity to offer Value Added Programmes to Learners

The recent launch of Bridging Programmes for Nexus learners in Year 11 and Year 13 who are preparing to enter the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) or higher education have been a timely preparation for learners during these important transitions.

Year 11 learners have been taking part in an introduction to the IBDP subjects that they are considering. They are allowed to choose from an array of options for subjects such as English, Humanities, Mathematics, Arts, Technology and Language. As well as these options, all learners also take part in Science, Physical Education and Personal & Social Development.

For Year 13, the students have been undergoing a wide variety of courses to prepare them for university life. These include modules such as presenting to an audience, digital skills, an introduction to latin and mathematics for university level.

“Whilst Covid 19 has presented significant challenges for us as a school, it has provided us with a unique opportunity to be able to offer a unique Bridging Programme to our learners. We hope that all learners gain a wide range of skills and experiences to help them transition to their new courses,” said Nexus Deputy Head of Secondary Curriculum, Jared Wilson.

 

IB Graduates Nexus with IBDP Scores

Nexus has produced outstanding IBDP results with graduates who have entered top universities around the world.

“Nexus has an extensive repository of online resources which was a great help to me to prepare for the IB Diploma. The close relationship with teachers and the personalised learning they offer to students was a distinctive aspect of learning at Nexus as well,” says Khoo Qi Xuan, Year 2019 IBDP graduate, who scored a perfect 45 points to be recognised as one of the top 1% of IBDP students in the world.

Khoo will be virtually present during the Nexus Virtual Open Day to share his experience and how he achieved a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Duke University, USA.

Virtual Open Day, 29th & 30th May

Interested to know more about Nexus International School Malaysia? Get to know more about its Primary, Secondary and Boarding School.

Register to attend it’s Virtual Open Day on Friday, 29th May from 4-5 pm or Saturday, 30th May from 10-11 am. The school will be offering talks by its Leadership Team, a virtual tour and a chance to hear from its IBDP alumni, Khoo Xi Quan. Special fee waivers and online trial classes are available too. Register here.