Creative activities attract record number of students, Nord Anglia data shows

Nord Anglia Education, the premium international schools organisation, released its latest EdTech analysis today showing that courses focused on developing creativity have soared in popularity among its students in 81 schools around the world. The figures are based on an analysis of Global Campus, Nord Anglia’s digital learning platform, which contains thousands of learning materials and resources designed to complement schools’ curricula.

Nord Anglia’s analysis found that creative activities were the most popular with students and attracted just over half (53%) of all students’ extra-curricula learning sessions between September and November this year, bucking the trend seen in previous terms when one in two students had opted for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) activities. The most popular creativity-based activities included student writing competitions, which drew over 20,000 views, and Performing Arts: Ask the Artist interviews developed in collaboration with The Julliard School, which was viewed almost 35,000 times since the beginning of September this year.

With premium international schools based in the Americas, China, Southeast Asia, Middle East, India and Europe, Nord Anglia’s analysis shows:

• One in two (53%) students opted for creative activities, which proved the most popular with students in China and India respectively.

   

• STEM activities attracted 40% of student engagement, proving especially popular with students in the Americas and Europe who took up Nord Anglia’s online activities developed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

   

• In line with Nord Anglia’s previous analysis, courses on global citizenship attracted nearly a third (29%) of all online learning sessions. Once again these were the most popular with students in the Americas and the Middle East.

   

• One in five students (20%) took part in wellbeing activities, with sports competitions and yoga courses being the most popular.

Dr Elise Ecoff, Group Education Director, Nord Anglia Education, said: “Our education experts designed Global Campus to enrich school curricula and help our teachers bring learning to life for students outside the classroom. Our digital learning platform shows that teacher-led technology provides valuable learning opportunities that challenge students and foster critical skills such as creativity, problem solving and strong communication. These are all skills that we know from our own research are highly valued by parents alongside great academic results.”