The Sudbury Catholic District School Board is using technology in the classroom to provide “greater opportunities for students and teachers,” according to a press release.
The school board recently added more teachers who are classified as Technology Integration Mentors (TIMs). The TIM teachers will “support classroom teachers and students to use technology in ways that enhance lesson planning, delivery and ultimately student learning and achievement.”
All Grade 7 and 8 students receive MacBook laptops, and will receive support from the TIM teachers.
The board has also purchased iPods, digital cameras and other tools.
Sarah Falvo, a Grade 8 student at Marymount Academy, said in the news release that the laptop has provided her with greater ways of understanding and demonstrating her learning to her teacher and classmates.
“I have been using the laptops since Grade 7 and really enjoy working with them,” states Falvo. “The laptops allow us to be creative and to try new things which makes the lessons fun… we can edit our journals and essays easily in English, produce lab reports and take tests in science and work with mathematical formulas and quizzes which are directly related to our Grade 8 math curriculum.”
Greg Huneault, a TIM teacher, says that with effective planning and use, "the technology ultimately responds to each student's needs and interests, and engages the student where he or she is. When we talk of classroom technology, it helps to understand its role in providing support to each student and teacher. With our MacBook program, for instance, every student in Grade 7 and 8 uses software that allows them to create podcasts, multimedia presentations such as movies with voice-overs, music, and other products.”
SMARTBoards are another tool Sudbury Catholic Schools have recently purchased for all classrooms in Grades 5/6 to 8. The interactive boards allow teachers to design and deliver lessons to further engage students.
Images from a laptop are projected onto the white board, which responds to a teacher's or student's touch. The board allows everyone to manipulate words and shapes on the large white screens, so students can better see and understand concepts. For example, students can observe and experiment instantly with how an object changes shape as its measurements change, or move parts of a sentence around quickly to see how meaning is changed.
In science class, concepts using video and virtual exploration of body parts can help students better understand in real life how systems work together in ways textbooks and chalk cannot, the news release stated.
