Every teacher can benefit from new content-sharing hub launched by IB and Tes

Posted on 26th Mar 2018 in International Baccalaureate

International Baccalaureate (IB) and non-IB educators can now collaborate, share best practices and learn from peers from around the world thanks to a new free content-sharing hub, launched today by the IB and Tes.

Through the IB group within the Tes platform which can be accessed via http://tes.com/IB, teachers can take inspiration from peers on the other side of the world—breaking down barriers and borders to education. Educators can upload teacher-created classroom resources and easily search for DP material as content is tagged using IB terminology.

The content-sharing hub launched at the IB Global Conference and Heads World Conference in Singapore is now available for Diploma Programme (DP) educators teaching students aged 16-19.

Breaking down barriers

The tech-savvy platform means that all teachers that value an international focus to education will have access to a suite of classroom resources to improve their approaches to teaching and learning. Dr Siva Kumari, Director General of the IB said: “The IB is a digital-first organization that is constantly nurturing partnerships both within and beyond our community.”

Dr Kumari continued: “We believe that excellent teaching and learning should be available to as many schools, teachers and students as possible, regardless of where they teach and learn, or what their socio-economic background may be. As such, this launch is exciting and significant, because it combines our digital strength with partnership and, most important, it does so in a way that is designed to benefit teachers all over the world, no matter whether they teach at IB World Schools or elsewhere. This will be to the great benefit of their own teaching, and to their students’ learning.”

Collaborative working

An advisory team of both IB and non-IB teachers, and education experts have been trialling the hub. Analía Oursi, Foreign Languages Coordinator at St. Ignatius' College in Argentina and IB Educator Network member, said: "The platform offers an interesting meeting point for educators; allowing us to expand our horizons, analyze our everyday teaching and learn more about different perspectives. It is amazing to be able to collaborate with different educators on the other side of the world and share day by day experiences and practices, which in turn will allow us to share truly global points of view in the classroom."

The launch is a significant milestone for the organization that is also celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Dr Kumari said: “The platform has huge potential to build collective knowledge and insights, to make them easily and globally accessible, as teachers connect with their peers to share ideas and best practice, and join in a worldwide conversation of passionate educators who are committed—as the IB is—to education for a better world.”

Lord Jim Knight, Chief Education and External Officer at Tes, said: "Tes is delighted to be partnering with the IB to host a new content-sharing hub on our resources platform that truly reflects their curriculum. We’re committed to connecting teachers from all over the world giving them access to high quality teaching materials. We look forward to presenting the new hub today at the IB conference in Singapore."