Technology Questions Answered!

Just thought I’d throw these up on the ol’ blog as well!

 

1. What pathway has been adopted at your school?

The pathway adopted at the school I was at most closely resembles the Digital Media Development pathway. The students have to take a mandatory 4-week computer course in Grade 8 to learn the basics of such programs as Word, Excel, and Photoshop.  After that, there is a range of courses they can take where they can learn more advanced forms of Digital Media in the areas of 2/3D animation, Photoshop, Web Design, and Video programs.  There is also two senior courses- Marketing 11/12 and Entrepreneurship 12- that focus on the business aspect of ICT, as well as a Programming 11/12 course for students wishing to expand their knowledge of computer programming.  All the courses, with the exception of the Computer 8 class, are electives.

 

2. What are the benefits of this model?

The major benefit of this model are the courses themselves- there is such a range of interesting topics being offered to the students. Not only can they become familiar with popular programs (such as Word) that they will likely use for the rest of their lives, but they can take it further.  They can learn more sophisticated techniques of digital video production, or learn marketing techniques that can be used in a business context.

 

3. What are the disadvantages?

A major disadvantage of this model (and ICT courses in general at this school) is that the school isn’t wireless yet- so students can only use the internet at designated times. Furthermore, there are only four computer labs and the computers range from 2-6 years old- which is fairly old in computer years!  Because the access and current technology isn’t there yet, I think students are hesitant to sign up for those elective courses- that makes it hard to actually run them.

 

4. What changes could be made to enhance dynamic, purposeful use of technology?

I talked to the head ICT teacher at the school and he showed me the Technology Proposal he created; the Proposal has 4 phases and is intended to take about 4 years to set up.  The purpose of the proposal is to address the gap in teaching technology.  The plan is to do it through teacher/technology professional development (this part has already begun, with all the teachers receiving personal laptops), the installation of fixed technology tools (as well as wireless internet), and the creation of mobile computing labs.  Eventually, the final goal is to invest in Netbooks that students can get in Grade 8 and pay off in a 5-year purchase plan.  The reason the Internet is coming so slowly to the school is that the district is leery about putting wireless into the school because of security reasons, but this teacher assured me that it could be made safe for all students to be online at school.  I think all these proposals could ultimately benefit the school by making ICT more accessible to everyone.

 

5. How would you describe the teachers’ and students’ attitudes, skills, and knowledge of ICT?

 I would say that the attitude of the teachers and students towards ICT at this point is a bit indifferent.  The students didn’t seem overly engaged or completely bored when I saw them in Computer classes, and I didn’t meet any teachers that were really gung ho to have new technology in their classrooms. They actually seemed quite content with overheads and a DVD player! I was there the day the teachers got their new laptops, and I told one particular teacher how much technology was being emphasized in our program, and asked if she was happy that new equipment was starting to come into the school.  Her response was that “it’s all well and good to learn those digital tools, but when there aren’t enough computers for each student- and we cant guarantee they have one at home- it makes it very difficult.” The ICT teacher told me that there is a wiki-esque program set up at the school for teachers to use/edit/share ideas, but only a few teachers actually use it.  There is only one class Moodle site set up, and it is for the senior classes taught by the head ICT teacher.  I can certainly see the side of the argument that technology isn’t prevalent enough to be fully used, but I also hope that when tools such as active whiteboards one day come into the school, the teachers will be eager to try them in their classrooms.