IT-Review

SCHOLAR e-learning Programme Comes to Indian Schools

Over 4,000 pupils from schools in four regions of India will have free access throughout the month of November to the prestigious Heriot-Watt SCHOLAR online learning system.

Originally developed to improve the educational attainment standards within the Scottish High School system for 16 and 17 year olds, SCHOLAR has more recently been adapted to support A level syllabuses in England and Northern Ireland as well as education systems in China and Norway. One of the unique aspects of the SCHOLAR programme is the fact that it combines the best of modern e-learning techniques whilst retaining the role of the teacher as the central element of the pupils' learning.

SCHOLAR is unusual in e-learning terms in that it offers interactivity from a bank of 44,600 web pages and fosters learning communities within school groups. SCHOLAR's fully interactive materials are supported by over 5000 quizzes and assessments so that students and their parents can gauge their progress and teachers can focus their learning support where the pupils need it most.

This could help reduce the overall cost of education for those Indian pupils who participate in this programme. The many similarities between the Indian and Scottish school system also makes SCHOLAR a good match in terms of supported learning.

The project follows a pilot exercise earlier this year, where SCHOLAR was made available to students studying year 11 and year 12 examinations. A resounding 97% of pupils cited SCHOLAR as having significantly assisted with their understanding of the subject and the examination pass rate has increased in line with these opinions.

See also: