'King's Bangkok' shares 10 tips to make the world-class online learning experience, taking part in raising Thailand's standard of education

'King's Bangkok' shares 10 tips to make the world-class online learning experience, taking part in raising Thailand's standard of education to an international level through qualified teachers who are dedicated to their students' continuous development and their families' wellbeing.

• All teachers dedicate themselves to achieve the goal of making online learning consistent, fun, and as similar as possible to a normal classroom. They organise their lessons by applying expertise from the global network of King's College School: King's Wimbledon, King's Hangzhou and King's Wuxi.
• Key takeaways - Provide individual care for each student. Understand the concerns of parents. Provide families with modern ICT devices and other learning resources. Offer an opt-out option for tuition fees in this period for Pre-nursery and Nursery students.
• According to the school's survey, during the online learning period, 100% of parents reported that not only has their children gained all-rounded development, but they are also happy at the school. Moreover, 99.4% of parents rate the teaching and learning quality at King's Bangkok as good to excellent.

King's College International School Bangkok (King's Bangkok) shares some methods and some positive feedback of learning from home, highlighting the concept of having an 'Inquisitive Mind'. Having a mind that always seeks to learn means that a student's learning is not interrupted during the COVID-19 period, even if the school is closed in accordance with government guidelines. The most important aspect of our school has always been our great-hearted teachers, who not only possess excellent teaching skills but also always prioritise student learning and development, and make sure that learning is enjoyable and seamless for all. They apply their knowledge on our world-class online learning platform to the classroom. In addition to this, they also take into account parental concerns. The feedback we have received has significantly exceeded our expectations, because our parents, students and teachers are happy with our online learning arrangements.

We continuously develop our teaching and learning methods to build on the success in the last term. 99.4% of parents rate our teaching as good to excellent, and 100% have agreed that their children achieved well-rounded development and were happy at the school in the last term.

Professor Sakorn Suksriwong, DBA, Chairman of the Executive Committee of King's College International School Bangkok, said, "King's Bangkok has always worked closely with King's Wimbledon, and this time we are lucky to be able to collaborate with another two King's campuses in China. By sharing knowledge and practices, we have been able to effectively use world-class online learning platforms, which allow us to deliver classes at an international level. However, to make a success of the virtual learning format, in addition to being knowledgeable and driven, teachers need to have the quality to teach across a variety of media. King's Bangkok has committed itself to becoming one of the leading schools in Asia and to sharing its expertise in teaching to raise Thailand's level of educational attainment."

"All of our teachers evaluate the success of our online learning period against clear and specific aims, which are to make students, parents and teachers happy. Students and teachers, together with parents, need to work closely to develop our students into well-rounded and inquisitive learners. We do not want COVID-19 to be an obstacle to our students' progress and learning." Professor Sakorn said.

Thomas Banyard, Headmaster of King's College International School Bangkok, said that "the virtual learning format has been designed with both students and parents in mind. We try to ease the burden on parents by providing them with the necessary ICT equipment and resources. The school understands parental concerns, particularly if the family has multiple children who may need to be supervised while learning; so, we try to reduce the need for them to be present where possible. King's Bangkok has given all Pre-nursery and Nursery parents the option to opt out of lessons and any fees for this period. While learning in a virtual format, we have built on previous topics learnt in the last term and extended students with new ones. All teaching and non-teaching staff have the same goal: for children to be happy and to develop both academically as well as emotionally, according to our belief that 'A Great Heart Takes You Further'. We applaud all our teaching staff for their determination and high teaching standards, and also the parents who always devote themselves and support our initiatives for the best of their children's interests. Because of these people, our students are able to learn effectively, regardless of whether they are at home or at school."

Helen Searle, Head of Pre-prep of King's College International School Bangkok, said, "Despite our online learning format, we still focus on a student-centred approach to education. Children are well looked after, as they are when they come to school. After starting online learning, we have received compliments from many parents who are satisfied with our approach and learnt how much fun their children seem to be having. The key success factors are our dedication to analyse opportunities and challenges in this difficult period, the devotion from teachers and the school as well as our families, the continuous innovation in our teaching methods, and the quality and frequency of communication with each stakeholder. Fundamentally, we all want to reach the same goal of developing children and increasing each family's happiness."

10 effective online learning tips from King's Bangkok that lead to student development that we would like to share: (Youtube link: https://youtu.be/Ee2zBjQIs8s)

Empathise and be flexibleAs each family has different needs and priorities, a school needs to empathise with a student's learning obstacles and parental expectations as the first thing in planning, so that the online learning system is created and applied in the most effective way.

Aim to continuously develop students while maintaining happiness in the familyAs we are in an unpredictable situation, schools should make sure that through the virtual learning format, students are progressing in their learning and the happiness of everybody else in their family is maintained at the same time. Schools should avoid methods that may place undue stress on students and their families.

Sharing is importantFocus on sharing knowledge and expertise across the school and with other schools to thoroughly respond to student and parent needs.

Eliminate limitationsA school needs to understand the constraints that parents would have; these constraints include learning devices and resources and difficulties in procuring them. Therefore, schools should try their utmost to ease their burdens such as help them by providing resources, IT devices that aid a student's learning, and comprehensive instructions on how to navigate the virtual learning format, in order to let students have the best learning experiences.

Provide live lessons as much as possible, even though we have to work harderA student-centred educational approach is especially important. We believe that small group work lessons allow students to learn more effectively due to the better attentiveness. At King's Bangkok, teachers must work harder because they must repeat the same lesson three or four times, resulting from their decision to break down their one class into mini group classes. They also have to mark everyone's work in a timely manner to ensure that all students are being taken care of by learning their feedbacks for seamless development.

Recreate the school environment at homeIf children feel like they are at school, they will be more eager to learn. At King's Bangkok, we fix the start and finish times for all students to meet online as if they were still at school. Moreover, we require students to dress appropriately in the morning, and sometimes our Headmaster greets them in their virtual classrooms, as he normally does at school.

Create a balanceTo reduce the effects of being in front of a computer for too long, particularly with the stress that this sudden change may have caused, our teachers adjust the school day by age group. We have added regular breaks so that they can do other activities and then return to the classroom. This is to ensure they will not be under too much stress.

Make things interesting and engaging when in front of a computerStudents may struggle initially with concentration levels, so it is vital that teachers devote themselves to innovative ways of teaching to keep students engaged. For example, the Sports Department creates a new video every day, so that students can have fun and stay physically fit on a regular basis. In addition, we are still putting on house events, themed days and school challenges, so as to keep students engaged.

Maintain morale amongst teachers and studentsIn situations like this, everyone may need emotional support at times, so it is important that we look out for one another. Teachers have been working extremely hard, so King's Bangkok organises activities that support their wellbeing, because happy teachers make happy students.

Emphasise evaluation and communicationThe school frequently makes online questionnaires to gather feedback from parents. We also have opened online communication channels with parents, so they can always contact their child's class teacher or school on a regular basis.

King's Bangkok now welcomes applications for boys and girls aged 2-15 (Pre-nursery to Year 10) for the academic year 2021. Years 11-13 will open in the subsequent academic years. Please email us with any enquiries at [email protected] or visit our website at www.kingsbangkok.ac.th Tel 02 481 9955