Library & Digital Learning

and Digital LearningLibrary

The 2020 school year started as any other year with the excitement of welcoming everyone back after the Christmas break. A new cohort of Year 7 students were welcomed to the Library and plans were underway for another year of Mazenod learning.

Little did we realise that the visit of author Steven Herrick would be such a unique event for the year. Herrick illustrated how the flow of words, influenced by the recount of a story becomes lively story-telling. Other literature events have had to be re-imagined as we managed the COVID-19 pandemic with students participating in the virtual Melbourne Writers Festival.

A system of sanitising Library resources was introduced to mitigate the spread of infection when the pandemic was announced. Chess playing was restricted along with Lego and board games. The Book Club and Student Tech Team continued for as long as possible and when we transitioned to learning from home, students were encouraged to stay in touch with reading with our digital library. Digital learning resources have been building gradually over the years and thankfully we have kept abreast of those developments.

Many students have continued to be active readers borrowing 352 books from our Sora Digital Library during a 30 day period in Term 3, spending an average reading time of 35 minutes per day. Our ebook collection also links with the local public library. We encourage student membership of the public library to extend their reading options.

Library resources are integrated into MazCom ensuring students have access to database, news and research resources. Combined with existing digital platforms makes learning and teaching support accessible regardless of whether learning is taking place at school or from home.

Digital Teaching & Learning Staying abreast of developments in learning and teaching involves a commitment to professional learning by teachers and school administrators. The apparent seamless transition to learning and teaching from home was made possible by the commitment of Mazenod staff in all departments.

In 2019, a rigorous program of professional learning was implemented with the introduction of the MazCom learning management system, together with a stable framework of Hapara Teacher Dashboard, GSuite for Education and solid network infrastructure. The landscape was organised, it was accessible and teachers worked tirelessly during Term 1 to launch bravely into a new world of digital learning in Term 2.

Every member of our school community has contributed to the mammoth undertaking. We have learnt to teach differently. Teachers have embraced new challenges with remarkable results. The Mazenod community can be truly proud of how we managed the 2020 school year. I have personally experienced great joy in sharing the excitement of teachers who have ventured into new digital teaching experiences. 2020 has been an astounding year of change in teaching and learning. Some individuals have managed better than others but the rich learning of Mazenod College has continued. We are prepared now for whatever 2021 will bring.

Camilla Elliott