Hi everyone!
The first week is over, and I’m having a great time at the Well (I’ve even got the nickname down)! I’ve got a bunch of topics to post about, but I haven’t been blogging as much as I should. However I’ve got the whole weekend now, so I promise to get a few posts done in the next couple days!
Of all the interesting things I have seen and heard at Wellington so far, the technology in the school has really intrigued me- mostly because they haven’t joined the world of wikispaces and tweets yet. There are only 3 or 4 classrooms equipped with computers (along with the library), and of those locations, there are no Macs in sight. The computers are big, bulky, and straight outta 1998. This is certainly not the fault of any of the teachers, it’s just that the school doesn’t have the budget to revamp and acquire computers for its 1,000 students- and certainly not laptops that can be loaned out to students. When talking to one of the English teachers about how we’ve been introduced to all these digital tools and their promise in the classroom, she said that they were certainly fantastic ideas- in theory. But when the school can’t afford/make sure computer access is available to everyone, she said, it makes online teaching difficult.
The principal has started an initiative this year to get each teacher a laptop, to start the process of connecting Wellington staff and students to the online world. So the shift is happening slowly. Maybe one day soon, English classes will be tweeting about Hamlet while watching Kenneth Branaugh lament on-screen. But for now, the extra copies folder in the English 11 classroom will continue to be stocked daily.
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