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There’s no “quarantine bin” for cellphones or blocks on Facebook or Twitter at St. Thomas More Catholic School — or anywhere else at the Ottawa Catholic School Board, for that matter. When the board decided to embrace a “digital ecosystem” five years ago, it went all-in.
“We saw students were coming to school carrying their devices — cellphones, iPods — and we started looking at that as an opportunity,” said OCSB director of education Denise André.
Through its Blueprint 2020 program, the board overhauled the way it used information technology, starting with a name change to “Learning Technology.” It got rid of dedicated computer labs in favour of Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices that students can use anywhere in the school. Interactive white boards popped up everywhere. Teachers lost their desktop computers and were issued laptops instead.
The transformation caught the eye of the Canadian Education Association, a 124-year-old national organization that studies and promotes innovation in Canadian schools. On Thursday, it launched a $50,000, three-month study to see how the Catholic board did it.
“In education we have no problems creating visions, but we do have a problem making those visions a reality,” said Ron Canuel, director of the CEA.
The association selected the OCSB for its “innovation that sticks” case study from 35 other boards across the country. It announced the project Thursday at St. Thomas More school on Blohm Drive.
“It’s not really about the technology,” Canuel said. “It’s about how they got there. How did they get buy-in from everybody involved?”
Many teachers can be very resistant to bringing more technology into the classroom, he said.
“And they’re right. It doesn’t give better results if you’re using the technology to teach the same way that you would if you were using pencil and paper. What you have to learn is to do things differently.”
At the Catholic board, that involved letting teachers who were early adopters of the technology to lead the others, André said. The schools established “genius bars” where anyone — students and staff — could come for help. Tech-savvy students were allowed to participate alongside teachers and staff on projects. Students could BYOD — “bring your own device” — or use one of the school’s. Teachers shared information on informal Twitter chats.
“It was OK not to be comfortable with the technology,” André said. “We didn’t force it on everyone. You could take your time.”
As for online etiquette, the board relies on teaching “good digital citizenship” to ensure students use their online privileges and personal mobile devices appropriately.
“We’ve found that if you try to prevent people from using them, they’re more likely to try to sneak it,” André said. “It’s just like passing notes in class.”
The CEA study should be complete in a few months and will be published on its website, cea-ace.ca
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
“We saw students were coming to school carrying their devices — cellphones, iPods — and we started looking at that as an opportunity,” said OCSB director of education Denise André.
Through its Blueprint 2020 program, the board overhauled the way it used information technology, starting with a name change to “Learning Technology.” It got rid of dedicated computer labs in favour of Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices that students can use anywhere in the school. Interactive white boards popped up everywhere. Teachers lost their desktop computers and were issued laptops instead.
The transformation caught the eye of the Canadian Education Association, a 124-year-old national organization that studies and promotes innovation in Canadian schools. On Thursday, it launched a $50,000, three-month study to see how the Catholic board did it.
“In education we have no problems creating visions, but we do have a problem making those visions a reality,” said Ron Canuel, director of the CEA.
The association selected the OCSB for its “innovation that sticks” case study from 35 other boards across the country. It announced the project Thursday at St. Thomas More school on Blohm Drive.
“It’s not really about the technology,” Canuel said. “It’s about how they got there. How did they get buy-in from everybody involved?”
Many teachers can be very resistant to bringing more technology into the classroom, he said.
“And they’re right. It doesn’t give better results if you’re using the technology to teach the same way that you would if you were using pencil and paper. What you have to learn is to do things differently.”
At the Catholic board, that involved letting teachers who were early adopters of the technology to lead the others, André said. The schools established “genius bars” where anyone — students and staff — could come for help. Tech-savvy students were allowed to participate alongside teachers and staff on projects. Students could BYOD — “bring your own device” — or use one of the school’s. Teachers shared information on informal Twitter chats.
“It was OK not to be comfortable with the technology,” André said. “We didn’t force it on everyone. You could take your time.”
As for online etiquette, the board relies on teaching “good digital citizenship” to ensure students use their online privileges and personal mobile devices appropriately.
“We’ve found that if you try to prevent people from using them, they’re more likely to try to sneak it,” André said. “It’s just like passing notes in class.”
The CEA study should be complete in a few months and will be published on its website, cea-ace.ca
bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
