Public education is looking to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded by information and communication technologies. Our Director of Information Systems, Gregg Ferrie, is leading us through a planning process designed to provide the Board with a new comprehensive technology plan.
We have placed a response document in the form of a powerpoint presentation on our district website, and we are welcoming responses until Monday, January 19, 2009. After that we will take a revised draft to the Board in February. All of this is designed to have the new 3-5 year plan in place before the end of the school year. Please visit the website, have a look, and respond if you are so inclined. Comments are welcome here on the blog as well. Everything we hear will be incorporated into our thinking and planning. Thanks for your help.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
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7 comments:
That's exciting news! Will you be posting a link to the presentation on your blog when it's on the website?
I like it!
What I don't see mentioned or inferred, is using the system to access school work if there's a longer absence. For instance, children who are unable to go to school for whatever reason, may still be able to access their school work via the internet.
What are multi-media options within this system? Will there be access via 'podcast', rss feeds, and so forth? Or the ability to use video/ mp3 in other ways?
Another one is the use of technology to help with demonstrating comprehension of a subject in multi-media approaches?
How would multi-disciplinary interaction look in this light? For instance, the special needs teacher, the school counsellor, the regular classroom teacher, and so forth? Additionally, would there be multi-disciplinary student files that would be accessible by parents, passed on to physicians or external counsellors and so forth?
I am the Information Technology director for the Saanich school district. I'd like to answer your question but will separate it out for clarification. We are very glad you like what you see Global.
Firstly, the system we are developing for schools has a very powerful feature which uses a technology called "desktop virtualization" for remote access.
It would allow the student access to not only their files or email but their entire desktop. This is a significant advancement for our students because it does not put the onus on parents to purchase or download software. Almost everything the students are doing at school can be performed at home.
The system has full multi-media capabilities to stream video and sound but this aspect is limited to being at the school due to some restrictions of the virtualization client.
There is access via our new school-based "Moodle" web sites to school information. As well, teachers have the capability to create homework or course specific sites which can incorporate podcasts, rss feeds, audio/video and all the Web 2.0 tools available but in a safe and secure environment. All elementary schools are running this system and the middle and secondary schools are working on more extensive systems.
Not being an educator its difficult for me to comment on the specific pedagogical aspects of the system.
In any case please contact me if you would like more specific information on the technology being developed and our plans for the future.
Cheers
Gregg Ferrie
Dr. elder,
I attend your student forum every month, since september of last year. At the student forum on the 6th of January they introduced this new age technology and proposed the idea to all of us, there was alot of support, and i seemed to be the only one who had any questions about it. My concerns about the technology are that it will become a given to use, instead of being a priveledge. The average person already sits on a computer for 12 hours a day and if you were to implement this new technology the numbers would rise. Teachers would have to be cut, and students would have a golden excuse of "i can do it home." I have a 4 year neice, who is already up to speed with computers, almost at the level that I am in grade 12 and if she continues to use it the way that she has been then her life will rely on information from the computer. I understand how benefitial this can be for students who cant attend school or have troubles in class, but for the vast majority i think it will over run the system as we know it. The amount of students that skip (high)school are already amazing and i think that with the opportunity to do all the work over the computer they will continue to skip more and more knowing that they can finsih it at home. High school has taught me so much more than books and computers, and i am in support of the new technology, so long as the students to come are still going to have the same opportunity to experience their teachers, peers, and extra-curricular activites the way that my grad class has had.
Thanks Marcia. And thank you for your continued involvement with the Superintendent's Student Leadership Group. Also, thanks to our IT Director Gregg Ferrie for presenting the plan at our last SSLG meeting.
Marcia, your comments are insightful and more than welcome. We must continue to keep in mind the balance between technology and personal contact. This very blog is an example of ways that people can use the Internet to connect and learn, but your reference to our monthly meetings is a reminder of the importance of face to face contact. At the recent ICSEI conference in Vancouver (International Congress on School Effectiveness and Improvement), much of what was reported from pre-eminent researchers from 54 countries was speaking to just this challenge - embracingl technology and the new interactive "web 2.0" in ways that not only help us avoid the pitfalls that you have referenced but, in fact, help us find ways to leverage technology to increase human connection and capacity. We intend to follow that premise with our technology plan, and my own commitments include making sure that neighbourhood schools remain vibrant and important. Not only is public schooling crucial to the development and maintenance of a healthy society, but the institution of school as a physical place is as well. It is apparent that school as we know it will change, but we must not lose the personal touch, and we must not lose the benefits that come from having expert and caring teachers and other professionals leading the education of our youth.
If you are interested in following up on lessons learned at ICSEI, check out www.icsei2009.org. Over 100 presentations will be posted within a couple of weeks, many in the form of powerpoint presentations with accompanying research papers. One that I would recommend in particular as it relates to a technology-enriched world of learning is a keynote by Valerie Hannon of the Innovation Unit in the UK. Google Valerian Hannon and you can see what kind of research and thinking characterizes the Innovation Unit.
Mr. Ferrie, thank you for the explanation and response. Desktop virtualization sounds like a very useful tool to have. Also, having looked around the Brentwood Elementary website and explored a bit of the Moodle components, I can say I am impressed with its versatility.
Marcia, thank you for your very valid concern too. As a mother of young boys who are already quite proficient on computers, I do not intend to have their interpersonal time reduced. Dr. Elder, thank you for your reply to Marcia, I am going to be looking up more about Valerian Hannon myself.
I appreciate that you yourself are going to pursue the interaction between teacher to student but the fact that concerns me the most is the students themselves. There is no saying that the students wont take advantage of "web 2.0," and as much as I hope they dont, im a student right now and my gut is saying they will. It will be much easier for students to leave without a hassel, if they are able to do the work at home. Also, this would mean that a lot of the internet blocks will be lifted at the schools, allowing more leeway for the students. Although we bag for trust and responsibilites everyday Im not 100% sure that the students are ready for that much. The fact of it is, that teachers will have to enforce more rules, in order to keep the structure of their classes. However you had a valid point when you said that your blog is a perfect example of how technology can interfear with the personal interaction and i just hope that the students dont lose sight of the fun that can be had at school, so long as they just embrace it, and all it has to offer! Computers still confuse me, it took me months to figure out how to write on your blog, but as it stands I still know enough to do my school work on the computers and I think that should be enough without having to understand them backwards and forwards!
thank you for getting back
to me soo soon=) i really appreciate it!
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