John McGlashan
College in Dunedin is poised to send its year-9 pupils into
an era of high-tech paper-less education.
The school's board of trustees has approved, in principle, a
proposal for every year-9 pupil to have a net-book computer
for his own use, at school and at home, from the beginning of
next year.
The plan is for the college to lease the machines to parents
on a rent-to-own basis for about $80 a term over three years.
It would be robust, compact and reasonably priced and it
would have a good-sized keyboard with a smaller screen than a
full-sized laptop.
Principal Mike Corkery said the days of lugging around heavy
ring binders and textbooks in school bags might soon become a
discomfort of the past.
But more to the point, it would have an enormous impact on
the way teachers taught and the way pupils learnt.
"The day when a personal computer is considered to be an
essential learning tool, a requirement even, for every
secondary student is surely not far off.
"Information and communications technology (ICT) has had an
enormous impact on schooling in recent years and demand for
access to all that it can do and provide for teachers and
learners grows rapidly - even exponentially.
"Who knows how much this could change the way we teach and
learn?""We've got active boards and computers. But we're now
at the stage where all pupils need to have laptops to take
full advantage of the ICT available."
Mr Corkery said there were advantages in leasing the
net-books to pupils. The machines could be checked for
misuse, and set up with protocols and rules to manage their
use effectively and consistently.
"We'll need a fit-for-purpose infrastructure, too. That will
include some fairly extensive expenditure on a new wireless
system and other upgrades that will allow us to access
ultrafast broadband when it arrives at the gate."
Mr Corkery said the school was part of a Ministry of
Education-funded professional development contract this year
which was aimed at exploring and using ICT to enhance
learning.
"That contract has allowed us to work with, watch and learn
from St Hilda's Collegiate, where parents bought MacBook
laptops for their girls in year 9 at the start of 2010."
Mr Corkery said ICT provided countless benefits to teachers
and learners, enabling everything from access to information
and knowledge, the management and manipulation of data,
communication and creative endeavour, to recording and
film-making (and watching) and assessment and pupil
management.
"It is probably true that the information revolution is as
significant for society and education as the industrial
revolution that preceded it."
- john.lewis@odt.co.nz
Bookmark/Search this post with:
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.