Online learning exploded during the pandemic when schools closed to the vast majority of pupils and it was seen as the way to keep education up and running.
But Scottish online learning platform Scholar, based at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, is something of a veteran in this space, predating the pandemic by a couple of decades.
The platform, which boasts 42 complete online courses across 21 subjects at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher levels, came into being in 1999 and celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. To date there have been more than 60 million student enrolments for Scholar courses.
Gaëlle Seal-Coon, who became director of Scholar in 2023, says that when Covid hit, Scotland was the only country in the world that had complete access to a wide range of upper-secondary courses online.
Online learning and AI
Now, in the era of artificial intelligence, she believes the platform’s potential to support teachers and students has never been greater.
There could, for example, be scope to introduce chatbots that answer students’ questions in real time so that learners essentially have “a tutor in their pocket”, she says.
“We have got the trust, we have got the quality, and I think we are in a really good position now to see how we can harness tools like AI,” she says.
Another area for future development currently being looked at is providing Gaelic-medium courses, says Seal-Coon.
In 2023 some 5,461 pupils in Scotland were being taught through the medium of Gaelic, according to the pupil census - up from around 3,000 in 2013. But teacher shortages and a lack of resources in the language are cited as barriers to wider participation, especially in secondary schools, which often struggle to recruit subject specialists with the necessary language skills.
Higher Gaelic is already available on Scholar and, generally, languages are a draw for students on the platform. National 5 chemistry is the most popular course - but in terms of activity and time spent on Scholar, that gong goes to the modern languages, specifically French and Spanish.
The most recent additions to the platform, meanwhile, are National 5 music and geography courses, which students have been able to access since 2023.
It is relatively straightforward to deliver courses in science, technology, engineering and maths online - but social and humanities subjects are “often overlooked by education technology because they are harder to build content for”, so the new additions have been “really well received”, says Seal-Coon.
Students who use the platform can engage with Scholar independently; if, for example, they are interrupted learners or are being home educated. More common, however, is for teachers to use the platform to support what is happening in the classroom.
Contrast to England’s Oak National Academy
Seal-Coon says Scholar can be used to “stretch the most capable” or to help “plug learning gaps”, with teachers and students receiving feedback on performance.
“What’s unique about the programme is that it uses real-time, data-driven insights for educators, including formative assessments with instant feedback, so that decisions about next steps for learners can be personalised.”
Scholar is available in most Scottish councils - 26 of the 32 local authorities subscribe and have full access - but the platform benefits from no direct government funding.
Seal-Coon points out that this stands in contrast to Oak National Academy, the teaching and learning resources provider set up during the pandemic to support English schools, which is free and funded by government - although the level of that funding has recently been the source of debate.
“It would be wonderful if Scholar was in a similar boat, because we want everyone in Scotland to benefit from it,” she says. “But I do understand the funding landscape is restrictive for everyone.”
However, Seal-Coon argues that Scholar is a hugely cost-effective way to open up access to learning materials and learning opportunities for all.
“We have been around for 25 years - and we need to be around for the next 25,” she says.
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