This week our schools is one of 5 schools in QLD being profiled at the Griffith University Digital Technologies Summit. During our presentation, we will be highlighting the key parts of our journey over the last 5 years that have placed us in such an enviable position in terms of the implementation of the Digital Technologies Curriculum.
Our Pedagogical Framework
During the creation of our Pedagogical Framework in 2012, ICT was never seen as extrinsic to good learning. It was regarded as a tool, like many others, that teachers have in their tool-kit to connect students to their learning, to extend their learning, to reinforce their learning, to differentiate and to potentially transform their learning.
ICT as a General Capability
The Australian National Curriculum lists ICT as a General Capability along with Literacy, Numeracy, Critical and Creative Thinking, Intercultural Understanding, Personal and Social Capability and Ethical Understanding. These general capabilities play a significant role in equipping young Australians to live and work successfully in changing circumstances. The goals of the Melbourne Declaration in 2008, agreed to by all the states and territories, played a large role in the positioning of these general capabilities as central to the design of relevant and exciting curriculum opportunities for our students today. I am immensely proud of the way our teachers have made effective professional judgements regarding the use of ICT as a general capability.
BYO with clear Intent Leading to Digital Normalisation
In 2013, we trialled the use of personal devices in learning in one class in Year 4. Following this trial and opportunities to share the successes and our learnings, we gave our families the opportunity to provide an iPad to their child for learning in Year 4, then Year 5 and finally across Yrs 4-6.
The choice of iPads as our preferred tool for a personal device followed 2 years of exploring this device and finding that it had potential to differentiate the learning experience, to provide opportunities for creativity and self-expression and to enable access to materials that can be accessed in a seamless manner between home and school.
Our BYO program has found a nice balance throughout its evolution – this portable device is available when it is the best tool for the job and offers potentially transformative opportunities for students to complete tasks that would not have been possible before. Examples from just the last fortnight include:
- the creation of multi-modal reports which include audio, movies, stories and animations
- the creation of digital games to explore the English narrative genre
- the creation of film advertisements as one component of an advertising and education campaign
An Ambitious School Vision
Late in 2015, our school went through a community consultation process which led us to our vision for the next four years:
Empowering our community of learning to create a legacy which redefines our world.
There is no doubt that the use of digital technologies, as defined by the new curriculum area from ACARA, will play an important part in students being able to create a legacy.
A Culture Supportive of Innovation
Our staff are involved in cycles of research, supported by design thinking as a scaffold. This work is supporting our teachers to inquiry deeply into their practice and then to share their learnings and to allow good ideas to spread. Teachers are also seeing the benefit of design thinking for their students’ learning and this is creating a catalyst for interesting and exciting changes in curriculum design.
We have also used elements of design thinking to implement our ‘Young Innovators Program’ and are currently looking towards its evolution into the second round. This program is offering our students with immense opportunities in areas of STEM, entrepreneurship and project based learning and is an interesting indication of just how far we have come.
