During the 2013-14 school year, Mr. Galzerano, Mr. Rudolph, Mrs. Cliggitt and I attended several workshops focusing on the use of technology in the classroom. These workshops as well as guidance from our technology consultant led us to decide to purchase our first set of iPads in December of 2013. This was based on the evidence that tower computer systems and even laptop computers are not going to meet the needs of the students of tomorrow.
As those of you who had the opportunity to attend our orientations may have noticed, we have consolidated our technology workspace into one newly renovated area. The new Technology Center will continue to house our existing PCs, which our students in the lower school will continue to use during their technology classes. In addition, our Technology Center also will house our collection of iPads and provide a central location for our students to use them as well. This will happen not only during their scheduled technology class time with Mrs. Lana Smith, but also with their classroom teachers as well.
Intermediate and Middle school students will be using technology right in their regular classrooms. Beginning this year, we are encouraging all students who have an iPad or a tablet to bring it to school. They are allowed to use them for note taking, research, creating projects, completing assignments, etc. In addition, there will be times that each of their teachers will have apps and websites that they will be using to enrich their learning experiences.
At Brandon Academy, we never invest in anything just to say we have it. If we are going to have iPads and ask our students to bring them in, we certainly are going to do so in order to enhance learning. In an effort to ensure this will happen, we have taken two very important steps. First, our fantastic classroom teachers have spent the summer researching apps and websites that can be accessed with the iPad to enhance the curriculum presented at their respective grade levels. The teachers are currently in the middle of a series of workshops at BA sharing this research with their colleagues.
The second step in ensuring that our technology is being integrated into the curriculum is that our technology teacher, Mrs. Lana Smith, has had her role expanded. In addition to her duties as the technology teacher, she also will be acting as the Technology Integration Specialist. That is, Mrs. Smith will be working with every teacher to find ways to use the iPads to enhance the learning of all of our students. A schedule has been arranged and teachers are meeting with her regularly.
Stay tuned to this blog as I will be posting specific examples of how teachers are using the technology at every grade level throughout the year.
