Almost 4-million students between grade 8-12 currently have access to Teacher On-Line, a virtual curriculum assistance service launched a year ago by Europ Assistance South Africa, offering pupils after-class curriculum support.
Rouxle Van Molendorff, CEO of Europ Assistance SA, says: “Students require maximum support to enable them to excel in their school work, and that is where our service comes in. It has been less than a year since we introduced this product, but we are seeing a phenomenal response to it.”
Teacher On-Line allows learners to interact with a qualified teacher on a variety of subjects, in either English or Afrikaans. This service, which is available Monday to Thursday between 18:00-21:00, has shown results of improved learners’ understanding of their work which ultimately has a positive impact on their examination marks.
Teacher On-Line features:
* CAPS-aligned curriculum, which is aligned and relevant to both public and private schools, in all major subjects and is preloaded on the interactive teacher platform.
* Teachers are equipped with fully animated lectures and video clips teaching concepts with detailed diagrams and animations. These videos make it easy for learners to visually follow and understand their study material.
* Interactive tests that get marked automatically and instantly reinforce understanding. After watching the animated lectures, learners are required to complete the quiz to test their knowledge.
* Summaries – fast, easy access to the key areas of a topic. Comprehensive notes, graphs and illustrations that can be printed or saved to the learner’s device for future use.
The service, which was previously offered telephonically, is also evolving to a virtual classroom environment. This will result in pupils being invited to a virtual classroom where an online workspace can be shared, facilitating a far more effective tutorial session. This will enable the teacher to view the learners’ work and guide them through their questions.
The software used will assist in building an individual learner profile which creates a history and context of the problem areas the learner experiences.
“Technology is enabling more possibilities for our pupils in South Africa, and Europ Assistance SA is at the forefront of this evolution. I believe that as more pupils are gaining access to online basic education, as being currently rolled out by the National Basic Education Department around the country, this will also open up for more pupils to receive our services,” Van Molendorff says.
