Page 34 - ELG2005 Jul Issue 471

RESOURCES . REVIEWS & RESOURCES

Mitigating the STUDYCAT STUDYCAT

effects of lockdown

Rachel Womack explores the benefits of online
learning and gamification for young learners

priority for every country, school their work can help improve outcomes by an
and teacher around the world will impressive amount, as much as eight months
be ensuring that children do not (Hattie, 2012; Higgins, 2014).
Abecome disenfranchised from loss The Education Endowment Foundation
of education because of Covid-19. But what has useful guidance for introducing
can we do to mitigate metacognition in
the lockdown’s effects education. Breaking the Study Cat’s English learning apps teach language skills in a fun way
on learners? Anything that approach down into STUDYCAT
If we want to look at several areas, the EEF’s “We’re global but our HQ is in Asia and it teachers, too, but we had no idea how
strategies to alleviate helps teachers, guidance begins with was painful to see what was happening on our important that connection would become in
the effects of school parents and teachers’ own doorstep,” says Mark Pemberton, an ex- the context of the pandemic.”
closures, firstly we need understanding of the language teacher and one of the company’s
to know more about children connect, metacognitive approach co-founders. “We’ve always offered free trials All the smartest species in the
those effects. Aside from so that they can support of our product but it wasn’t a situation where world play
lack of face-to-face and keep children their students in business comes first, so the trial became a That gamified content works particularly well
lessons, the isolating planning, monitoring donation for as long as schools needed for young learners shouldn’t come as a
effects of lockdown having fun while and evaluating their support during the outbreak. surprise. With 90 per cent of brain
means that students learning in a virtual own work. “The schools we helped received a really development completed by age five, without
have not been able to The EEF then strong, positive response from parents, and formal education, it’s clear that play isn’t just
interact with their peers classroom is going recommends that are beginning to implement Fun English for entertainment for young children, it’s their
or their teachers, which metacognitive strategies Schools into their language provision after single most powerful method of learning.
can have a serious effect to be useful. begin with activating schools re-open.” Researchers and educators have found
on motivation. prior knowledge before A series of free teacher training webinars that play can help enrich learning and also
In addition, the stress felt by many parents leading on to independent practice and and forums discussing the future of education help children to develop key skills such as the method can be used online and, once welcome change. Education is of paramount
can bleed into their child’s learning. This also finishing with structured reflection. were also offered to help teachers navigate inquiry, creativity, expression and schools are open as usual, it could be an importance, that pretty much runs through
impacts motivation, and has a wider and unfamiliar territory, along with free songs, experimentation. effective way to reduce stress and encourage the core of teachers like the words in a stick
more worrying impact on the brain, says Can tech help and what role do quizzes and worksheets for English language Neuroscientist Katarina Gospic also learner ownership. of rock from Blackpool. But not every
neuroscientist Katarina Gospic. parents play? teachers with young learners. advocates play, not just to help children The principle is simple. In traditional country sees it this way, and not every parent
“Emotions can be contagious – we pick up In short, yes, technology can help, but that catch up, but to underpin the way they learn education, lower levels of learning, such as is engaged in their child’s education. If this
on what people we look up to are feeling, and comes with a caveat; we need to select For free resources go to: in general. “Play is incredibly important in remembering and understanding, generally pandemic changes that even slightly, then we
this affects how we feel. In general, this carefully and we need to be flexible in how https://studycat.com/activity- learning, yet we don’t all make the most of take place in the classroom, and students work all stand to benefit.
makes us learn what we should and should we use it. Ed-tech that connects homes and type/worksheet/ this approach. It’s especially important in the on higher levels of learning outside the Laura Schulz said it well in her 2015 Ted
not do, according to social norms.” schools in the learning context could end up https://studycat.com/apps/ early years setting as we learn more through classroom. Swap this around and you have Talk on the surprising power of babies’ brains
“In this current context, parents who are being a staple for schools in future, as could play and human interaction than through flipped learning; students complete the easier, and it still rings true today. If we invest in our
worried about their financial future, or their gamified content, which can resonate well The content of the learner app is gamified, formal teaching.” lower levels of work before class and then children’s learning and development,
family’s health, could pass on their fears to with today’s digital natives. Meanwhile, to help engage children, and aligned to As to why learning through play is so engage in higher cognitive levels of learning applying the most powerful and elegant forms
their children, which could affect their state parental engagement is another powerful tool Cambridge Young Learners English. The effective, research is still exploring this area. with their peers and their teacher. For teachers of technology, engineering and design, the
of mind and their learning,” says Gospic. to leverage. reason for the gamification was its potential “I think the scientific question of why play who want to try this approach out, the free way we invest in other areas of life, as she put
“This is because emotions influence our Global language learning company to engage children in language learning, says supports learning remains one of the Study Cat webinars can be a useful guide. it, “we will not just be dreaming of a better
perceptions and decision making. Negative Studycat saw this during the first wave of Mark. fascinating puzzles in the field,” says Blended learning, meanwhile, is a mixture future, we will be planning for one.”
emotions like stress can hamper our ability to school closures, which put parents front and “We saw the power of games right away cognitive scientist, Professor Laura Schulz. of face-to-face classroom teaching and online
think critically or even retain information.” centre when it came to their children’s when we were teaching – get kids to play “The smartest species play the most, so lessons that encourages students to think n USEFUL LINKS:
Put simply, to really help students, we need education. games, sing, complete puzzles and take there’s every reason to think that play is more autonomously about learning. Many EEF Metacognition guidance
to think about their mental health and state The company made the decision to donate quizzes in and out of the classroom and connected to learning but working out the advocates of blended learning believe it will Flipped Learning research
of mind, and we need to avoid adding to any its schools solution from the beginning of information sticks. Do this in a scaffolded details remains a scientific challenge.” become a favoured strategy for teachers Flipped learning examples
stress they may feel. In this context, there are February so that schools could still reach way using really good content, make sure concerned about future lockdowns, since it Learning through play
several methods that can help. young language learners using the product’s they can play games and learn at home and Turning the traditional approach introduces the principle of learning online so Blended learning evaluation
digital classroom, play-based scaffolded you can give kids a solid foundation for a new on its head effectively.
Start with thinking about learning, content, student app and parent dashboard. language and the secure learner data gives For methodology that uses metacognitive Rachel
and learning about thinking Click here... teachers insight into where each child is at. principles and technology together, the Priorities for the future Womack is
Encouraging students to become more “During the pandemic, anything that helps flipped classroom and blended learning are Over the next few weeks and months we will a freelance
autonomous as learners helps when we want teachers, parents and children connect, and useful. The flipped classroom dates back no doubt hear more about what schools are education
them to see learning as continuous, rather keep children having fun while learning in a quite a few years now but we are paying more planning, and more policy announcements writer.
than restricted to the classroom. It also helps virtual classroom is going to be useful. We attention to it, and to blended learning, as a are highly likely as governments attempt to
them catch up. Using metacognitive designed the product to do just that, but we result of school closures. fund their preferred mitigation strategies.
approaches to encourage children to think had no idea it would have such a unifying Although it relies on face-to-face In this way, as dire as this period has been,
independently and take responsibility for for a free trial. effect. We knew it worked because we were instruction as well as autonomous learning, it could result in some very real, very

34 July 2020 editorial@elgazette.com 35