Rural school’s learning platform make for easy access learning

Located on the Victoria-New South Wales (NSW) border, Wodonga Middle Years College (WMYC) has leveraged technology so every student can access education from anywhere at any time.

The school has a focus on personalised, mobile and consistent learning experiences for its 800 students and uses the Brightspace cloud based learning platform for its cohort of students who come from all socio-economic circumstances, cultural backgrounds, and stages of learning.

“We model our pedagogy on engaging all students in the best ways possible amid what might be perceived as adversities as a publicly-funded school in rural Australia,” said Steve Fouracre, Assistant Principal at WMYC.

“Brightspace is the mechanism through which we have modernised learning by giving people access to the world. The interactive and customisable platform has helped us provide learning in new ways – both within the classroom and beyond – so every student can develop skills relevant to their future pathways and careers in the modern and digital world.”

Through a unified platform, WMYC has created consistency for students in both its campuses to eliminate variations between classrooms. It has also extended its curricula with new subjects, including programs and electives for early access to specialised studies.

Brightspace complements WMYC’s one-to-one Apple iPad program and now 50% of WMYC students learning is accessed via a mobile device and WMYC reports the platform is being consistently used by 100% of the student population.

From a staff perspective, the learning platform has enabled the formation of professional learning communities which have ready access to resources that help them expand their own skills.

“WMYC’s investment in transforming learning experiences is an example of what education can be, including the possibilities that come as a result of reform. Having underpinned its framework for learning with Brightspace, the school has not just overcome geographic and societal challenges, but engrained principles of the contemporary economy – equality of accessibility – to reach every learner,” said Mark Yaxley, Regional Director Australia and New Zealand at D2L.

D2L’s Brightspace makes it easy to create engaging courses and content, integrate video, personalise learning, capture and share expertise across the organisation, and supports all mobile devices.

The platform enables adaptive learning, intelligent agents, course interactives, full support for competency-based learning and world-leading learning analytics.