Information and Communication Technology Academic
This year we have continued our focus on providing resources for the integration of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into the curriculum. Our aim over the coming years is to seamlessly embed the use of ICT’s into the curriculum and support the way teachers Mr William Quartermaine teach and the way students Director of Information and Communication Technology learn. Our focus therefore has been on hardware and software development; curriculum; and staff.
Hardware and Software development We have upgraded a number of traditional classrooms by installing multimedia resources. As a test case, we installed a data projector, ceiling speakers, a data screen, a network point, an amplifier, a VCR player and a DVD player into an English classroom. This allowed teachers and students to use a laptop for presentations, access email and the Internet, listen to music, and watch films and documentary DVD’s in their classroom. We have upgraded two Science laboratories and a Society and Environment classroom with similar resources and we will continue to upgrade classrooms each year. This year the College has installed a state-of-the-art wireless network. This allows users of wireless enabled devices to read their electronic mail, search the Internet and access their network files from anywhere within the College grounds. The Music department has been fitted-out with a purpose built computer laboratory. Trinity boys are now using highly complex software programs to complement their music curriculum. The boys are showing their creative talents through the production of some wonderful pieces of music. Our software focus for the short term is database management software and administrative software tools. Schools need to manage an ever increasing amount of data and we have upgraded the school database software to provide more functionality for our administrators. We continue to develop our assessment and reporting software tools to meet the needs of our teachers.
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A committee was formed early in the year to evaluate the function and purpose of the College’s internet web site. The committee came to the conclusion that the website needs to serve a different purpose to that for which it was designed six years ago. The College now needs an interactive web site that will meet the needs of the various members of the College community. The new website has been designed and built and will go online in 2004.
Curriculum The ‘core’ business of any school ICT operation is to support, complement or enhance the teaching and learning process. The focus of our ICT resourcing for a number of years has been on integrating technologies into the curriculum. Each year we attempt to increase the exposure of students and teachers to using the technologies that best suit their particular needs. We have had a significant number of teachers using ICT in their classroom this year. The uptake of technology by Trinity teachers is a carefully considered and planned process. Many Teachers and students have been using an online learning environment that allows them to create online curriculum and distribute and submit work via the internet. Teachers are also using ICT to facilitate: online film reviews and video editing; internet searching; poetry writing; story drafting and writing; note-taking; biographies; digital presentations; web site projects; image editing; spreadsheets; accounting; online courses and science experiments.
Staff To support our main goal of integrating ICT into the curriculum, the role of Learning Technology Coordinator was created. Mr Roger Blatchford (teacher and Learning Technology Coordinator) works closely with teachers to develop technology solutions to enhance learning outcomes. Mr Blatchford also works in the classroom to support the classroom teacher with the use of ICT facilities, as well as providing teachers with ICT training and professional development. Data management and web site development have become key areas in the ICT structure of the College. Mr Richard Cackett (teacher and Web Manager) has managed these responsibilities and provided great support to staff. The service and support staff – Mr Neil Seaman (Systems Manager) and Mr Warwick Gaff (Technical Support Officer) – have worked hard to ensure the smooth operation of the ICT network. Mr Seaman is new to the College and he brings a high level of skill and professionalism to his position.
The Future The College is working towards a position of providing teachers and students with the necessary tools to make use of modern technology to enhance the education process. Some future plans include: The use of our wireless network to connect wireless devices to each other and to outside networks; providing students and teachers with more access to computers; an improvement in the way that we manage data; better digital communication between school and home; an improvement in web services; greater data storage capacity and an increase in e-commerce services. William Quartermaine Director of Information and Communication Technology
