1. What policies govern your uses of ICT in your school setting?
Students are asked not to bring electronic devices to school. If found they are taken to the office for safe keeping to be picked by a parent or guardian at a later time. While in the computer lab students are expected to only use school approved internet sites. They are not able to access personal email, YouTube, or Facebook. The students in Grade 4 and Grade 5 are able to use their school email at home and at school to communicate with each other and the teacher. Depending on the individual teacher, classes are taught how to use their email accounts with consideration given to safe guilelines and social responsibility.
2. What digital technological resources do you have available for teaching and learning in your school setting?
Each class has a LCD projectors. There is a computer lab with 30 computers available. I was able to access the computer lab 1 1/2 hours per week. I was able to get extra blocks for a specific project. There are 15 I-Pads that are signed out via timetable sign out sheet. In my class I have 2 computers that I chose to make both available for students. (Most teachers keep one for personal use) I was able to borrow a third laptop for the year to meet the diverse needs of my student population. I was able to sign my whole class up to Pixton comics for the year too.
3. Please provide an example of an exemplary use of digital technologies for teaching and learning that you have observed or experienced personally.
I hope that I can learn of other examples from the group as nothing springs to mind. I know that my class enjoyed being in the computer lab. I would love to take my use of digital technologies for teaching and learning to the next level.
4. Please provide an example of a problematic use of digital technologies for teaching and learning that you have observed or experienced personally.
The most frustrating part is when a number of computers are out of commission so that not all the students can use a computer in the lab. I realise that my skills are very limited to fixing bigger problems that arise.
5. Please provide a brief history of how you learned to use digital technologies (personally and professionally).
I have stumbled my way through learning as I go. From cassette tapes in the last year of my school, to one handed as a StockBroker before headsets were available, then basic publicity as a circus performer, via floppy discs at university and finally as a teacher in the classroom.
6. How would you rate your digital technological proficiency? 0 = low level of proficiency -> 10 = high level of proficiency? Why did you give yourself this rating?
After today I would say 2 or 3. I thought I was doing reasonably well in my school setting but now I feel somewhat overwhelmed.
7. What do you hope to accomplish in this course?
I am eager to move ahead in my learning of new resources and how they can be integrated into my practice at the Elementary level.
I texted a colleague last night to discover that at my school the biggest challenge is bandwidth. At the district level the issue is that there are 1500 computers but when we upgrade to Windows 7 (not 8) approximately two thirds of the units will be obsolete as the new operating system will not support the old technology. As the district continues to struggle with balancing books there are more challenges for ICT.
Thank you for your honest reflection.
I appreciated your sharing about the situation in your school and district. It does mean, however, that the young citizens in these communities are not being prepared cognitively, culturally, or technologically in any coherent way to understand what it means to use digital technologies. The situation with ICT resources in your school is truly unacceptable, in view of the BC Education Plan which expects learning to be empowered by technology. I wonder how this situation is going to be addressed in the near future, not only for your school, but for other districts and schools in the province. This is a good time for teachers to provide leadership in drafting policy that places learning ahead of tech acquisition, and ensure tech acquisition has a firm foundation in learning, not purchasing.