June 21, 2015 4:00pm by David Farrar

How mobile tech helps education

Mobile technology is the key to boosting student performance, according to a director from what was once one of the United Kingdom’s worst schools.

When Abdul Chohan was made a director of Essa Academy in Bolton, about 30 minutes from Manchester, just a third of students were passing the UK’s national education standards.

The school was out-dated, not fit-for-purpose and students came from some of the country’s lowest socio-economic areas, with a large migrant population and 46 languages spoken at the school.

Chohan, who is visiting Auckland to talk to teachers about how he turned his school around, was appointed as one of the directors tasked with improving the school and he did so with the help of mobile devices.

The school made technology a central part of learning and all students now had iPads and used the mobile devices at home and school.

Essa Academy’s pass rate had gone from 33 per cent to between 93 and 95 per cent, Chohan said.

Superb, and that will make such a difference in the lives of those students.

Chohan said the introduction of mobile technology increased student engagement and decreased operating costs, with things like textbooks, printing and one-on-one tutoring eliminated.

On Thursday, Chohan visited Elim Christian College in Auckland to talk about how the Kiwi state-integrated school was using technology and to share his advice.

Chohan said his main advice to teachers was to make sure devices students were using were mobile.

The NZ system is heading towards a device for every student, which is good.