Maths and English Report shows important role of online learningMark Dawe, CEO of The Skills Network, says latest research shows that embracing online learning for Maths and English can help improve results – but that the Government needs to listen to enable this to happen .THE LATEST RESEARCH SHOWS EMBRACING ONLINE LEARNING FOR MATHS AND ENGLISH CAN HELP IMPROVE RESULTS – THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO LISTENLast month, The Skills Network unveiled groundbreaking research using the experiences of learners to help inform the conversation around how we improve learning around Maths and English across the UK.The research outlined a variety of ways that practical improvements could be made, but one of the key findings was that 64.05% of people surveyed believed that incorporating more technology could improve students’ opinions of Maths and English – helping to tackle the widely held view that these can be ‘boring’ subjects in the classroom.It is noticeable that the 25-34 age range – a key demographic when looking at filling skills shortages in the job market – gave a considerably more favourable response than average, with 80.17% wanting to use more technology for core learning.WE NEED TO WORK TOGETHER TO TACKLE STIGMAIt is clear that as a country we need to work together to tackle stigma, listen to learners and use the latest advancements in technology to help improve outcomes – and we need to find blended approaches, tailored to the needs of individual learners – but alongside this we need buy in from Government and others to ensure that we let go of the comfort blanket of old ways of working, that often hold people back.The Government seems afraid of embracing modern ways of working. For example, in recent days, we have seen the Chancellor of the Exchequer saying that the ‘default’ position for workers should be working from offices, rather than allowing people to work online in more flexible ways, where jobs allow this. The half empty offices on Whitehall bear testament to the fact that this restrictive view won’t prove popular amongst workers, but more importantly it is unlikely to prove effective at driving up achievement.THE IMPORTANCE OF CORE OR FUNCTIONAL SKILLS IS A HOT TOPIC RIGHT NOW.Everyone agrees that Maths and English are vitally important along with digital skills, particularly with the recent acceleration of artificial intelligence – and probably, more recently, also an understanding of the green agenda. Along with broader ‘employability skills’, all of these factors are likely to impact every job in the country.If the Prime Minister and his colleagues are serious that they want Britain to ‘reimagine’ its approach to numeracy and ensure that young people ‘feel confident’ with finances, what they need to do is listen and learn. Sadly little meaningful progress has been made for those that need this help the most in recent years – and that is because difficult decisions need to be made in order to transform learning opportunities, career opportunities and life outcomes for the better.Our research also showed that cultural indifference plays a powerful part when it comes to accessing decent foundations in core subjects – with many people continuing to feel being bad at Maths is somehow socially acceptable (more so than being bad at English), even though 46.2% of respondents said that they needed to have a GCSE (or equivalent) in Maths (or a GCSE in Maths and English) in order to start their first job after school.As one of the UK’s leading online learning providers, The Skills Network are uniquely positioned to help the sector and decision-makers in Government understand these issues. We work to upskill over 35,000 learners in the UK each year; we work with 5,000 organisations across a variety of sectors; we partner with over 500 colleges and independent learning providers; and over the last decade we have helped over 1.6 million learners through our bespoke online learning portal EQUAL. Listening and learning, together...
