Fahan School Case Study
format_quote format_quoteThe teachers liked the idea that parents and students would be able to select whether to go with just digital or add print. We didn’t have problems with adoption, the platform is so intuitive and easy to use.
Cheree described the history behind Fahan’s gradual shift to digital “When the Rudd government rolled out the laptop scheme, we mainly used it to browse the internet, we didn’t have any digital resources. There was a natural progression to digital resources over time as more devices became embedded in the school. We were using LearningField for a number of years, where we explored using digital textbooks over print. In the beginning there was quite a push to go all digital by some members of staff, but we soon learned that people preferred a combination of print/digital and the students still liked to have access to print as well.”
Moving from LearningField (who closed in 2019) to Box of Books was a natural opportunity to review textbook choices. “It was really helpful to access the textbooks digitally for evaluation purposes. In Tasmania we don’t have a physical shop where we can go and review all the textbooks. We rely on publishers to supply them or we have to go online to purchase them, and this means we need to wait for physical books to be shipped to us, which is cumbersome and time-consuming. BoB support was really fast and requesting digital evaluation copies of texts was easy. This made teachers more adventurous to try new content – they could just take a peek and decide if it aligned with their needs. We made a lot of textbook changes as a result.”
format_quote format_quoteIt was really helpful to access the textbooks digitally for evaluation purposes. BoB support was really fast and requesting digital evaluation copies of texts was easy.
Cheree handled the booklisting from end to end, “I found the booklisting process fantastic. It was really easy to build out the booklist in the BoB app, leaving notes to come back to. I was able to grant access to our Heads of Department, and give them responsibility for their learning areas, and I could see the progress of who had reviewed the booklist and a timeline of changes. The supply options for digital and physical was a real positive: we were happy to be taking the choice of book format out of teachers’ hands and giving it to students and parents to decide.”
Fahan’s successful adoption of the platform was supported by teacher professional development training. “We had BoB’s Regional Manager come down right at the end of the year to give a session to all staff – that was really good to have. I also gave in-house demonstrations, starting with the Heads of Departments as part of the booklisting process, and this filtered down to other staff. The teachers liked the idea that parents and students would be able to select whether to go with just digital or add print. We didn’t have problems with adoption, the platform is so intuitive and easy to use.”
The publisher links to interactive content (provisioned through Box of Books) proved popular. “Teachers expressed that the resources available with textbooks through Box of Books have been really beneficial. Textbooks were previously viewed as a static resource: no-one was using the publisher resources – except perhaps the language teachers. Teachers were accessing them for the first time through BoB and it’s because it’s so easy to click the link without needing additional usernames and passwords. In this current climate with the move to remote learning, consolidating everything in one place will be a big help.”
format_quote format_quoteThe teachers liked the idea that parents and students would be able to select whether to go with just digital or add print. We didn’t have problems with adoption, the platform is so intuitive and easy to use.
Cheree discussed some of the communication challenges around changing the method by which parents ordered physical resources, “Parents were used to a system where they travel out to our showground in late January to purchase all their books and stationery. Even though we communicated to parents that to guarantee delivery they had to order with BoB in mid December, we still had a large cohort of parents who didn’t heed that and panicked when they thought they missed the cut-off date. However, I’m not aware of anyone who didn’t get their physical books on time even if they ordered later.”
Cheree summarised the benefits of the product and service, “Box of Books is easier than any system we’ve used previously. We’ve rolled out systems in the past including learning management systems and e-libraries, and they were clunky, difficult, and resulted in a slow uptake with staff. It has been really easy for all staff to start using BoB and get on with their teaching. We appreciate all the support that was provided in preparation for the implementation and the way every step of the process is integrated.”
