With teacher workloads continuing to increase, how can you expect to improve engagement, feedback and outcomes with the little time you do have to spare?
Well, there is a potential solution… Learning by Questions (LbQ). This innovative app promises:
“Curriculum-aligned Question Sets and immediate feedback to super-charge learning. Reduce your workload with automatic marking and instant insight for effective interventions. It covers all abilities so you can support your students your way.”
Backed by Sir Kevan Collins, could LbQ be the answer to your workload prayers?
Ways in which LbQ can improve teaching and learning
LbQ draws on over 60,000 questions, which are scaffolded in 1,950 curriculum covered sets in a bid to not only positively impact the lives of teachers but also the learning of pupils. This is also thanks to continuous formative assessment, low-stakes testing and instant feedback.
In a feature that’s unique to LbQ, constructed responses offered by the resources enable pupils to increase their understanding and embed knowledge. With this extra time, teachers can then focus on students who need more assistance and attention.
Users of LbQ benefit from access to an increasingly broad database of literacy and maths Question Sets, thus eliminating the need to scour the web for hours on end to find good resources.
Another way in which LbQ saves time (on average an hour per lesson) is that it automatically marks questions. Seeing as teachers can watch answers be submitted in real-time, if a group of students are struggling the session can be paused to address any misunderstandings. As you can imagine, this is much more time-effective than waiting until after the lesson and the lengthy marking process.
The fact that answers are submitted electronically is of benefit to students too, especially for those with limited confidence. By allowing pupils to submit their answers privately, there’s no danger of ridicule or embarrassment in front of their peers.
The difference LbQ can make to results
Washacre Primary School is located in a challenging area of Bolton. In recent years, it’s SATS results have been some of the lowest in the local area. But with a new leadership team and several new staff on board, the school decided to adopt a few innovative solutions to improve results, including LbQ.
As a consequence of using LbQ, 2019 Key stage 2 SATS results have been staggering, as Cherise Duxbury, a Year 6 teacher explains:
“Our SATS results in Maths alone have risen from 57 per cent to 85 per cent in a year and greater depth from zero to 31 per cent which is just WOW! The children can’t wait to get the LbQ tablets out. They moan when I hit the pause button!”
Staff subject knowledge at Washacre has also been boosted because LbQ breaks down questions. With teachers and TA’s moving more confidently around the class, they can provide personalised support at the point of learning.
LbQ has even been nominated for three BETT 2020 awards – Best Classroom Aid for Learning, Teaching and Assessment, Best Secondary Content and the Impact Award!