Online Learning for Disaffected Youth

Jean Johnson has worked in the education field for 25 years following a spell in industry. She began her teaching career in East London schools working with difficult and disaffected teenagers. In 1993 she began working with new technologies and was one of the first teachers to pilot the use of the internet in schools. She was part of the early developer group of schools for Oracle’s Think.com, contributing to the final design of the software.

Since then she has been involved in a number of high profile on-line projects both in the UK and abroad, working with schools as far apart as Sweden, Finland, the USA, India, Japan and New Zealand. Projects have included Web for Schools, Learning in the New Millennium, Schools on Line and the Virtual Classroom. Her work within Europe was influential in developing a model for the use of the internet in schools in the European Union. In 1998 she was presented with an award as Teacher of the Year.

Johnson went on to develop and lead the Notschool.net research project, working in the field of social inclusion for disadvantaged youth, focusing particularly in the creative and innovative use of multimedia to develop learning. In 2005, she formed TheCademy, a charity committed to inclusion with Notschool.net as its flagship project. Her team won the prestigious 2005 e-well being award for digital inclusion, Johnson has written a number of reports and papers, including extensive work on internet-based accreditation and content delivery models.

Notschool helps kids explore what really interests them by constructing an online curriculum around those interests, consequently re-engaging them in learning. In partnership with the local school council, Notschool carefully guides its “researchers” back onto a path to graduation and eventually to college or university.