Virtual School

In the 21st Century, education in a Virtual School is exactly like following the timetable of a traditional school, but without the limitations of a school building. All of your lessons are online so you can access them from anywhere that has a broadband connection. You can also return to lessons that have been recorded and archived to consolidate your learning.

Going to School — Just Log In

To get started, follow our simple login instructions. Go to 'Student Login'. Once you have entered your username and password, you will be taken to your Student Area on the Virtual Learning Environment where you will have access to all your resources and be able to enter your classroom.

Within the VLE you will be able to see all your fellow students who have logged in and chat with them. You will be able to lookup your coursework/assignments, check your progress, your Individual Learning Plan as well as access all resources from past lessons. In the Virtual classroom, you will have the option of revealing your presence to other students or not although your teacher will always be able to see you online. Participation by students is similar to that in a traditional classroom. Teachers can ask questions as well as students and live participation is encouraged in every class.

It's simple – log in and go to school!

The Classroom

In the classroom, it is your choice to let other students know that you are online; if you want to be private, you can be invisible to your classmates. Similarly, if you ask a question in the classroom, it can be privately addressed to the teacher, or to the whole class so that you can either get answers from the teacher and/or through participation of other students. This will help you get a view from other students’ perspective, understand the lesson in depth and access teacher input. Participation during the lesson encourages learning, revision, building on your strengths and addressing your weak areas.

During the lesson you will be given assignments as well as work to complete in class and/or as homework. This will help you consolidate what you have learned in the classroom and make real progress towards achieving your goals. You will also be completing set work whilst the tutor is online to consolidate learning.

During the time you are logged into the Academus classroom, we strongly recommend that you use headphones to help you concentrate, especially if there is any background noise or distraction.

Maximum Learning - Total Understanding

Your lesson, which can be live or replayed from the Academus VLE, will consist of teaching by a teacher using varied techniques such as listening, brainstorming, board work, PowerPoint and/or videos just like in a normal classroom, where the teacher uses the whiteboard to write, play a video or use other software as part of your lesson and include class discussions and presentations.

At times your teacher may take control of your screen to show you how to carry out a task on your computer, or the teacher may give you access to his/her screen to explain something to the class or respond to a question-just like going to the board in a traditional classroom. This form of interaction involves collaboration within the class and targets auditory, visual and dynamic learning styles. You can choose how much or how little you want to collaborate and this can be negotiated with your tutor and incorporated in your Individual Learning Plan.

Revisiting the Lesson

All live lesson will be recorded for you to access whenever and wherever. You will be able to download assignments/worksheets and/or any learning aids used in the lesson for each lesson. This way you are able to repeat any lessons in order to strengthen your understanding of topics.

Revisiting lessons enables you to re-look at your lesson and gain a clearer understanding of your subject. This is an essential skill for revision as you’ll gain confidence in exam techniques. You will be able to revise lessons by interacting, sharing and completing your assignments at your pace, which means that you will be ready to take the next step to your success.