Online schooling project in Thailand for Gosport man
Danny and his partner offering flexible learning
NO homework, flexible subject choices, triennial international meet-ups and a podcast with famous guests are just a few ways that an online school hopes to change the education system.
Danny Bohannan, 29, from Gosport says he is the youngest international headteacher in the world and with his partner Charlotte Blackwell, 26, runs the British Online School from their home in Thailand.
After years of teaching in the UK and abroad, the couple has witnessed the difficulties within the education sector and decided over lockdown it was the right time to start their international online school.
The school had its ‘soft launch’ in September, taking on five students from across the world, and has had a lot of interest and sign-ups in preparation for its full opening in January.
Danny said that his school is different because the students have the flexibility to fully tailor their experience to their different needs.
He said: ‘The children still turn up at a certain time and learn, but with our flexible learning the students have the choice of which subjects they want to study.
‘Learning is an individual journey, it’s not the same for everyone.’
Children still have a weekly timetable, which includes screen time breaks, can take part in extracurricular activities and homework is replaced with a day of independent study every Friday.
Charlotte said that research is already starting to highlight the benefits of online learning.
She said: ‘I do believe it doesn’t suit everyone, not everyone enjoys online learning. However for the students that it is for, there are far less classroom distractions and it’s a lot more suited to students with special educational needs.’
Danny said that online learning is also resulting in better academic progress and removes gaps between cultural groups.
He said: ‘All the data that we’ve looked at about online learning shows that all the gaps in learning disappear, the gaps between boys and girls are non-existent. It actually pushes everyone up to the same level.’
In order to maintain social interaction between students, Danny plans to launch a virtual experience that students can explore with their own avatars, and hopes to organise three annual in-person meetups across the world, where students can interact in person and take part in activities together.
Danny has a British Online School podcast on YouTube, which has featured guests such as Caroline Dinenage MP, paralympian Simon Richardson MBE, and entrepreneur Nick James. For more information and prices, visit britishonlineschool.co.uk and find the British Online School on Facebook.