1. What policies govern your uses of ICT in your school setting?

We have an “acceptable internet use” policy in the school that is published in the staff and student agendas. The Vancouver School Board is also currently working on a more specific set of guidelines for social media and its role in an educational setting. Many would agree that the policy currently in development encourages educators to simply use common sense when using social media and to be mindful that nothing is private once it has been posted.

As for devices in the classroom, there is no specific policy. Teachers decide how and when smart phones etc. can be used and/or visible. In the library, we do request that the computers be used for school related work only but do not have time to constantly monitor what the students are doing online.

2. What digital technological resources do you have available for teaching and learning in your school setting?

Most classrooms will have access to a laptop computer and projector but that is not always the case. Only two classrooms have Smart boards. The school has two PC computer labs and one Mac lab as well. The library has 30 computers as well as a document camera and interactive white board. We also have two laptop computers on carts.

3. Please provide an example of an exemplary use of digital technologies for teaching and learning that you have observed or experienced personally.

The interactive white board and document camera have been a most welcome addition to our library since their arrival just before Christmas. I love using the document camera to showcase students’ work and the interactive white board has been fun to use for both the teacher-librarians and the students. It keeps students more alert and interested when discussing the less-than-invigorating details of what makes a Works Cited page perfect.

4. Please provide an example of a problematic use of digital technologies for teaching and learning that you have observed or experienced personally.

Our biggest and most frustrating technological issue is the lack of bandwidth across the Vancouver School Board schools. It is simply impossible to rely on streaming anything and forget about using Web 2.0 tools such as Glogster for students to present a final project. You cannot count on the internet working when you need it to.

5. Please provide a brief history of how you learned to use digital technologies (personally and professionally).

Working in the film industry for almost a decade before returning to teaching full time about 18 months ago was my introduction to using digital technologies. In the film world we used a virtual production office on many shows. I then began using Facebook in my personal life. Since my return to education, the digital world has really opened up for me. I am using Google Docs, have a Google site and explored lots of 2.0 tools that can be used both professionally and personally.

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?

I would rate myself about a 6. This answer really depends on who I compare myself to. I don’t think I’m super savvy when it comes to digital technological proficiency but I know that I am not scared of it. I love learning how to master the digital tools that exist although I experience many frustrating moments and abandoned projects in the process.

7. What do you hope to accomplish in this course?

I hope to uncover and use tools that are not yet known to me. This has already happened! I love my Kindle for Mac application and am thoroughly enjoying the read of “Why School” thanks to this new app. I also hope to be more comfortable in an online presence role. I have always considered myself a total people person and have never really felt like I “present” well online. This is my first time using a blog so who knows? Maybe I’ll really love blogging and will find that online skin that has been somewhat elusive thus far.