Preparing for university
At Adult Education our Access team continue to prepare students for university, by supporting them remotely.
What is the pre-access course?
Our pre access course prepares students who are not yet ready for university and need to improve their English and maths qualifications to at least Level 1. We deliver Pre-Access courses in Health combined Social Work, Business, Administration & Law and Music Technology.
Following this course, students are then able to progress on to our Access to Higher Education Diplomas. Subjects include Art & Design, Business and Law, Health Professionals, Music Technology and Social Science. From here our students apply and progress to university.
A new way of learning...
Marvel Smith one of our Access Health Study teachers said,
"In the years prior to working at AEW, I had worked as a mentor to young people in my community. I have always enjoyed getting young people to a place where they believed they could do the thing they once thought impossible. I now teach health studies to adults aspiring to study a health-related course at University, so that includes students who want to be nurses, doctors and pharmacists.
It's been amazing to be part of a team that helps adults achieve dreams they thought were no longer possible.
Our classes continue remotely…There are different stages to remote learning, there is the 'this could be really fun and interesting' stage; the 'what have we gotten ourselves into' stage; then there is the 'wow I get to teach and learn in my PJs' stage, and finally the 'how did we not think of this before stage'.
As a department we are using Padlet and Screencast to record and deliver our lessons, students then listen and participate in activities. We have also found using 'Zoom' very handy for interacting with students. Whilst it was initially a struggle to get everyone on board, 3 weeks on, we are finding that students are fully engaging and quieter students who wouldn't talk in larger groups are expressing themselves through typing out their responses which is a real breakthrough.
Remote Learning was difficult to begin with. Our students were thrown in at the deep end using technology they were not familiar whilst also having to play the role of teacher to their children. Now however they absolutely love it and look forward to catching up via technology.
The method I have adopted is recording a video lesson using Screen-cast-o-matic. This allows students to watch a powerpoint lecture cast over an audio recording. This is then uploaded onto Padlet; every recording has subsequent activities that encourage student participation. The last 40 minutes is spent on 'Zoom' where students have the opportunity to ask me questions and more importantly it allows them to catch up with fellow students which supports their overall wellbeing.
Whilst I look forward to face to face classroom time, I am grateful for the opportunity this has afforded us as a department to learn new skills and for our students to discover just how resilient they can be under very difficult circumstances."