Leading online school welcomes Your Favourite Teacher CEO to launch in-house content studio

A leading online school is taking virtual learning to the next level with the launch of its own in-house content studio which will utilise the latest technology to create its own full curriculum of educational video content.

MVA Studio, the latest move by online independent school Minerva’s Virtual Academy, comes following the school’s acquisition of the full library of award-winning content from leading education content company Your Favourite Teacher. The creation of MVA  Studio has also seen the high-profile hiring of Kate Meeks, CEO and founder of Your Favourite Teacher who has spent the last five years pioneering online classroom environments. 

The content will form part of Minerva’s ‘flipped learning’ teaching methodology by which students are provided with a host of resources and reading materials to work through ahead of their lessons. More akin to the format of university study, students are able to prepare for each specific topic ahead of time making time spent in the virtual classroom much more focused and therefore, more productive. 

With an ever-evolving library of short, engaging videos, featuring Minerva’s own teachers, the videos will play a key role in helping students prepare for their lessons. Not only that, but the content will also serve as revision materials, creating a ready-made bank of an entire year’s worth of learning that is already summed up in a series of exciting, informative videos.

Former English teacher Kate knows all too well the value of digital resources to supplement teaching.

“It was my own experiences as an English teacher in the South East that led me to leave teaching to focus on educational content creation,” she said. “In a bricks and mortar classroom, I was seeing a huge disparity between the content we were being asked to teach as part of the curriculum and the educational needs of the students I was teaching. It’s not about sitting kids down in front of a Powerpoint presentation or handing them a book and expecting them to be engaged.

“You’re talking about kids who get a lot of their news and information from platforms like TikTok and Instagram – they live their lives through a digital lens and it’s important that the way we teach takes that into account. That’s what we’re aiming to do with MVA Studio, create content that teaches them in a way that truly caters to the way that young people consume and engage with content.”

And it’s a world away from the one dimensional lockdown style online learning that many schools adopted during the pandemic, says Kate. 

“Many schools, out of necessity, were forced to use online learning platforms that relied heavily on video content as a teaching resource. 

“Our content couldn’t be more different. It’s not designed to be a hands-off way to deliver lessons, it works hand in hand with the teacher-led live lessons that Minerva students attend every week – so much so that it’s the teachers themselves presenting the information in each of the videos. This isn’t a way to sit students in front of a video and hope for the best, it’s an additional method of teaching that helps students to be more prepared and more engaged so that by the time they reach lessons, their time can be spent discussing, debating and developing their knowledge rather than going over old ground.”

Hugh Viney, CEO of Minerva’s Virtual Academy, says the move is just one way that he aims to take MVA to the next level.

“Bringing together Minerva’s forward thinking approach with Kate’s impressive expertise, MVA Studio will continue our mission to create the very best possible digital content for our students, turning Minerva’s Virtual Academy into an education content powerhouse and one that we hope will set an example for the rest of the education sector. 

“Since our launch in 2020, we’ve always thought outside the box – we’re already changing the face of online education and the launch of MVA Studio is the next step towards that. Being able to create a suite of high quality digital content for our students adds another dimension to the tailored approach that we take to our teaching. 

“We’re ripping up the rulebook for what online learning should look like and throwing out the outdated perceptions of what online schooling is by offering our students another method of learning that is even better suited to the digital world that we live in.”

And it’s not just Minerva students who can get in on the action as the school will be sharing a selection of its revision videos on its YouTube channel, adds Hugh.

“Every child deserves to have access to high quality learning materials to help them to reach their goals which is why we’ll also be sharing a selection of our revision videos for free on YouTube. We’re confident in what we’re producing here and want to offer that out to any students who may need a little extra support with revision.”

For more information, visit www.minervavirtual.com