Jonathan Davies

My previous blog post was about the use of technology in schools at the moment and I didn’t really touch on how school’s could improve learning in the digital age as much as I could have, I had a lot of thoughts, more than what warranted a simple update to the post - so here is a brand new one here for your enjoyment

So we are at this point where there is a gap between accepting computers as a mainstream learning tool and those who still prefer the good old pen and paper. Of course writing is an incredibly important asset, but it is getting to a stage where typing is going to be just as, if not more important. So, I suggest the following pieces of action to be taken:

• Write everything on the computer - by doing this you are forcing kids, from a level where they are (hopefully) all the same. Therefore they can build up there skills and abilities with each other and learn things from each other. Of course, they should be pretty capable in writing before they move solely over to the computer for writing.
• Teaching online - my own school’s site has a source where they can enroll in online courses that work separately, or in union with a scheduled lesson. One of the advantages to this is that students can work at their own pace and don’t have to wait for others to catch up.
• School Bulletins - Imagine logging onto your school computer to find a page telling you your time table, preps that need doing and any other school related notifications. My school has this on a limited basis, but the possibilities that can be gained from this are amazing.
• Homework by email - Now there is no excuse to say you forgot. Send out a mass email to all your students giving them the work that is needed and the course on the learning site that they need to reference. All they simply do is, put the homework into a reply and send it off.

The problem that we have with these is that they require a few other steps that need to be made first before they could reach their potential:

• Educate students and teachers - on day one they should be given a demonstration of how to use everything and have a chance to ask questions. There should always be a support email that people can go and ask questions.
• A standard system - a lot of schools have hobbled together a system that uses a lot of different technologies that haven’t been designed to work with each other. Chose a system and stick to it!
• Make it mandatory - The one thing that is letting down the online learning site at my school is the fact that teachers don’t have to put up content for it - or even use it. Before it can be used properly it needs the whole school community behind it.

This is simply what I think a school would need to put into place before they can expect a fully functional, online learning experience. What would you like your school to do?

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