NEW AGE LEARNING

Even the whiteboards are a thing of the past in some schools, as interactive screens dominate the classroom learning space.

Technology is not just something adults are adept at. Technology and today’s young students are on the same page and becoming more knowledgeable and confident in this space every year.

When today’s Secondary School Senior students were in classrooms, teachers were grappling with the concept that their young Prep students were unfamiliar with using a mouse with the computer. They had progressed onto touch screens for their games and reading.

In today’s RGS Primary School students from Prep to Year 6 are welcoming opportunities to use technology to enhance their learnings.

The teacher can review student work via the Class OneNote book rather than collecting exercise books. Parents can also view their child’s school work through this means.

This lesson shows that traditional learning tools such as whiteboards and an exercise book remain part of the learning, but can work in conjunction with digital technologies.

Year 4 student Danica said they used computers (laptops) and whiteboards often in the classroom.

“It’s a lot quicker typing on a computer compared to writing on paper,’’ said Danica, who enjoyed using computers and iPads from a young age.

Year 6 students are also creating their own videos in their studies.

Year 6 students use iPads to create videos demonstrating their understanding of the Business and Economics aspects of the HASS (Humanities and Social Science) curriculum. Students film, edit and present their videos.

As technology becomes further entwined in our daily lives, schools continue to search for opportunities to use technology in the classroom to further enhance teaching, and keep up with their students interest in new learning devices.

Prep students this term enjoyed a Prep Under the Stars evening on the School’s oval with their fellow students and families. The evening focused on time and constellations, an integral part of their Science studies.

Families brought their own picnic and rugs and when the moon and stars appeared the students used iPads, phones and tables with a special app to find the constellations in the sky. In Year 4, students are calculating solutions for money word problems.

The students access the questions, which have been distributed by the teacher, via OneNote on their individual class laptop.

OneNote is a Year 4 everyday learning platform whether it be whole class explicit teaching, small group activities or independent learning. The beauty of OneNote is that students can be given differentiated tasks, or if given the same task, can move at their own pace.