ISA Joins Global Online Academy to Promote Student Agency
ISA is proud to announce an exciting new partnership with the Global Online Academy (GOA), an international consortium of leading independent schools that offers students a diverse range of online courses. A remarkable moment for our school and the future of our student learning, this is an opportunity to join a global learning community committed to providing high-quality online learning experiences for students and teachers.
What is the Global Online Academy?
GOA member schools unite behind a common mission: to reimagine learning to empower both students and educators to thrive in a globally networked society. GOA imagines a future where all students acquire and practice modern learning skills to be global citizens. We are joining a network of leading independent schools that is proactively defining this niche, discovering and designing new ways to learn, elevating teaching practices, and leveraging technology and modern learning skills to prepare students for university and beyond.
How does GOA benefit students?
As a member school, ISA will both expand the course offerings and learning experiences available to our students, providing them with increased opportunities to broaden their academic horizons, pursue their passions about and discover new subjects which spark their interest, outside of traditional course offerings. ISA students will benefit from learning with other students from around the world, as well as from an increased sense of agency and choice, as they are able to choose exactly which subjects to explore, allowing them to tailor their learning programme to the path that most fits them.
How does GOA benefit teachers?
GOA also enables our teachers to become part of an expanded network of outstanding independent school educators and to participate in dynamic, ongoing professional development. As members, we can connect our faculty with colleagues around the globe who will share best practices and discuss new ideas that transform classrooms and deepen the learning experience for our students.
Given the shared values around quality teaching and rigorous standards, we know GOA courses maintain the high standards of quality of which we are proud; to that point, students will receive ISA credit for these classes and they will receive individualised feedback and customized assessments from GOA instructors, all of whom work at one of GOA’s member schools.
During the 2021-2022 school year, GOA will launch with ISA’s grade 10 students (current grade 9 students). As part of his role as MYP Coordinator, Douglas Beam will serve as the GOA Site Director for ISA. Beam is enthusiastic about the positive effects that GOA membership will have on ISA students, noting that:
“Joining GOA and offering high quality, intensive online classes is such an important development at ISA because it promotes student voice and choice. The addition of this program to the existing ISA programs also recognizes something that we’ve known for a while and that the pandemic has reinforced; learning doesn’t only happen within the confines of a school building. In order to be lifelong learners, students need to develop the skills to reach outside of ISA’s walls and collaborate with other people around the world. GOA offers our students the opportunity to do that in an exciting way.”
At ISA, we support students on their individual journeys to self-discovery, challenging them to share their experiences and ideas from diverse perspectives and to pursue a range of interests outside of traditional classroom learning. Partnering with the Global Online Academy is a fantastic opportunity for ISA to make sure each student’s voice is heard, giving students both an expanded range of subject choices and an increased sense of agency over their own learning experiences, nurturing student’s confidence to make decisions about their own future path.
