Education experts in Victoria say that a shorter school week could have a range of benefits amid a burgeoning student population.
More than 50,000 extra students are expected to flow into the state’s school system over the next eight years, creating demand for extra classrooms.
However, Deakin University associate professor of digital learning, Tom Apperley, told The Herald Sun that schools could offset this by offering fewer lessons in classrooms and letting students study online from home.
“In 20 or 30 years, school won’t be an everyday affair,” he said.
“As state-funded schools continue to grow, they might only offer a student three or fours days a week. Or they might just go to offering half-days and shifts for students.”
Apperley said such a scenario could see digital infrastructure take the pressure off schools’ physical infrastructure.
The idea that a shorter school week could lead to greater benefits for students and schools is not new.
In 2015, Mary Beth Walker, Dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University and Mark Anderson, a faculty member at Montana State University, embarked on a study to examine the impact of the four-day week on student learning.
“Our results, based on fifth grade mathematics scores, generally show that achievement rises after the introduction of a four-day week,” Walker said.
“We found that, even after we take into account the variations due to different socioeconomic levels, the four-day school week is associated with an increased achievement.”
Walker and Anderson found that, on average, math scores increased by about seven points, meaning that the percentage of fifth graders scoring either proficient or advanced in mathematics went up from about 60% to about 67%, after the schedule change to a four-day week.
“These results were statistically significant, meaning there is a very low probability that the results occurred by chance,” Walker said.
Richard Leonard, director of prominent architecture firm Hayball, said architects are helping the education sector “get beyond the straight jacket of the classroom”,
“The traditional classroom of 25 tables all facing the front with one teacher is a stark contract to the possibilities the future offers,” he said.
Some universities are also starting to change how they approach traditional models of education.
One example is Deakin University, which became the first Australian university to deliver degrees completely online. Today, 25% of Deakin students choose this method of study.
“On these platform, we offer a short course or start of the course as a free taster,” Deakin deputy vice-chancellor of education Professor Beverley Oliver, told the Herald Sun.
“If people like it they can do their entire degree at Deakin. There are some things you can’t do online,” she said.
“Nobody is going to become a dentist after an online course.”