School's Innovative Approach

Illawarra Mercury

Tuesday June 10, 2008

For St Mary Star of the Sea Year 7 and 8 students, laptops are part of everyday school life.

The school implemented the one-to-one laptop program in 2007 to prepare students for life after high school.

"We believe that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is imperative for 21st century learning," acting principal and learning technologies co-ordinator Kerrie Piatek said.

"The order who founded St Mary's, the Good Samaritans, have always been an innovative order and we are leading the way with our laptop program."

Ms Piatek said the college's first aim was to give girls the best possible start in life. That meant helping them develop the technological know-how and resourcefulness that were sought-after skills in a competitive job market.

"The way we see it, the world is constantly changing," she said.

"So we've harnessed blogs, email, wikis and a range of online resources to facilitate high engagement, deep learning and real-world connection."

Ms Piatek said the laptop program helped students to become critical thinkers and to reflect on their learning.

The greatest challenge the college faced was keeping up with the rate of technological advancement.

"We face the uncertainty of what's coming next and the ever-increasing rapidity of change," Ms Piatek said.

"I often tell parents that we don't have any idea what the next generation of laptop will even look like, there might be no keyboard and it might all be done using voice recognition software, but we just don't know and so our ICT plan for the school doesn't extend any further than two years down the track.

"But the beauty of St Mary's is that we have an over-arching framework of values that shapes our policy and guides our vision."

Ms Piatek said all teachers were involved in several development workshops throughout the week.

"Teachers are learners too ... our staff are learning along with the girls," she said.

"The laptops are integral to what they do, they are not just an add-on so we are constantly looking at ways to better harness technology in our classrooms."

Maths, science and computer teacher Norina Todhunter said the program allowed students to work at their own pace.

"It caters for different levels of abilities and allows students to go further and look up things that interest them right then and there in class," she said.

Students have been competing against schools from across Australia in an online maths competition, creating artwork that mixed digital media with traditional methods like drawing and painting, and even looking up clock designs for their woodwork lessons.

Year 8 student Elise Boyle found using a maths software program on her laptop allowed her to find learning strategies that worked for her, which a teacher might not necessarily have the time or capacity to do in a normal lesson.

"It makes it fun and it shows you different ways of working problems out, so if you don't get it one way, it will show you another," she said.

Classmate Michell Sukaew liked having all her day's work in the one spot.

"Not only do you have faster access to resources, but it means your are not stuck on the same textbook page as everyone else," she said.

"And with my laptop, if I don't get something I can pick it up later on on my own."

Michell said the laptops foster a sense of shared learning among the girls, with everyone keen to exchange knowledge with their classmates.

"Some people know more that others and we love to teach other people," she said.

"You share what you know."

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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