Education Design

Developed by teachers for teachers

With its routes in academia, the Virtual Centre team has 30 years educational experience in:

  • the design of learning methodologies,
  • implementation of school systems,
  • assessment, automated tracking,
  • recording & real time reporting,
  • conceptual models and frameworks

Over the past 15 years we have collaborated with key education stakeholders including:

  • international education ministries
  • inspectors and regional policy makers
  • advisory and support staff,
  • teachers, children, parents & guardians
  • governors & administrators.


 

Strategic Development Partnership

Virtual Centre is a specialist in the design, maintenance and hosting of online learning platforms for every phase of education including: early years and foundation stage, primary, secondary & special schools, tertiary colleges, universities and adult education.

We have developed local authorities strategic partnerships to develop online learning technology developed e.g. with Gateshead. We also provide MLEs for clusters of schools in other areas.
 

 

Key Elements of the Virtual Centre

Virtual Centre is much more than a virtual learning environment, though it combines all of the facilities of a VLE. In addition it also combines an LMS, Portals and wide ranging database integration.


 

Integrated tools

  • Lesson planning is underpinned by VAK, National Curriculum, APP and also includes P scales, PLTS and SEAL.
     
  • It communicates with homework systems, which in turn feed information into markbooks and on into reports.
     
  • Pupils can be given immediate feedback by secure messaging.
     
  • There is also a question engine which automatically marks pupil responses and stores results in the mark book.
     
  • Parents are linked through real time reporting.
     

 

MIS Integration

All platforms can be linked into Managed Information Systems systems such as Serco and SIMS in the education context.
 

 

SCORM & SSO (Single Sign On)

Platforms are SCORM compatible. Users can upload third party products. This permits tracking and scores/results achieved.  It passes results into assesment records and mark books. Where products are not SCORM compatible we can still integrate them for a nominal fee.

Single sign is also enabled via a wide range of apps: Google Apps, J2E, Encyclopaedia Britannica, I Am Learning, eSchools, Courier and Microsoft Sharepoint.
 

 

Commercial Hosting

Unlike school hosted platforms, Virtual Centre is delivered by 2 of the top commercial companies in the UK. Users are therefore protected by industrial standard service level agreements.
 

 

Multifaceted Collaboration

Individual schools use the Virtual Centre, however the system really comes into its own when there is a need to collaborate e.g. across clusters, the whole LA, the region, country and the globe.

Below is just a small selection of educational platforms developed by the strategic partnership. Every platform can be linked, not only to each school MLE, but also to other local authorities and their schools as well.


 

Collaborative platforms

In most cases, teachers have access to more than one platform, e.g. an English teacher will have access to a school MLE but may also collaborate with the LAs Literature Curriculum Network.

In addition, all LAs have access to a central platform where teachers can share teaching and learning materials, lesson plans and peer support.
 

  • School Centred Initial Teacher Training
  • Virtual Colleges
  • Primary and Secondary curriculum networks
  • Central library of resources
  • Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service
  • Teaching English as a Foreign Language
  • Education improvement partnerships
  • Reporting and Analysis for Improvement through School Self-Evaluation
  • SEN portals
  • Offsite visits - forms, booking and approval
  • Alternative provision directory
  • CPD
  • Governors
  • SLA Local Authority platforms
  • Enterprise Education
  • Outdoor education

 


Case Study: REALAC Platform 

REALAC Raising the Educational Achievement of Looked After Children aims to promote the attainment of children in care by providing support and guidance to:
 

  • Children and young people
  • Foster carers
  • Social workers
  • Designated teachers in schools
  • Partner agencies and schools