As students return from a summer spent surfing the internet and fiddling with their phones, local schools are striving to keep pace with the expanding digital world.
From iPads and iPhone touches for some teachers to encouraging teachers to explore possibilities of website and blog creation, the school board is focused on bringing new technology into every aspect of education.
“It's not just technology for technology's sake,” said Dr. Lissa Steele, associate superintendent learning services at Chinook's Edge School Division. “It's really about how can it add value.”
Following the recent restructuring of the school board to integrate educational technology support into every department, digital tools have become just another resource in the toolkit of teachers and staff.
“We want to make sure that when it's used it's used to enhance student learning,” Steele said. “We have a tech department that's forward looking in terms of what's coming out.”
Learning services and IT staff will continue to meet weekly throughout the school year to keep on top of emerging challenges.
“So much of the work we need to do is around information literacy,” she said. “There's a ton of information out there. Part of our role has to be, how do we help kids figure out is that information valid, is it true, where is it coming from?”
While students may be used to playing games on their phone or posting to social networks for fun, too often they don't know how to do so safely or how to use technology productively, said Carmen Christie-Bill, a learning services coordinator with Chinook's Edge.
“They may not know how to protect themselves or create a positive digital footprint,” she said.
Whether using the web for research or signing up for online third-party tools, schools also help prepare students for job opportunities where employers may expect new hires how to use programs like Microsoft Excel already, said Christie-Bill.
“We need to teach them how to use it properly,” she said.
Technology has enhanced almost every aspect of school, from allowing parents to stay better connected to what their kids are working on, to providing access to remote experts to even assisting students who have trouble reading through specific iPad apps.
“It kind of opens up the classroom,” said learning services coordinator Jerry Simon. “There's apps here and there. Each one differs in effectiveness.”
Chinook's Edge is even contemplating changes to network infrastructure that would allow youth to hook in with the technology they are already familiar with, Steele said.
“We've looked at projects around students bringing in their own devices rather than us bringing in the devices for them,” she said. “So if I have a laptop how can I get onto the network? If I have an iPad, how can I get onto the network?”
Now that any piece of information is available to kids with the touch of a smartphone button, technology has completely changed the way they learn, according to University of Calgary professor Dr. Eugene Kowch.
“Students are the architects of their own learning,” he said. “Now kids can co-create with each other.”
While the principals of education remain the same, integrating tech tools is essential for every teacher, he says.
“You just can't teach without technology,” he said. “It's just not cool.”
