Hi
My name is Nick and I live in Southern Sydney. I’m currently studying a BEd (Secondary) in TAS (IT) whilst working part-time as an IT Admin at a local catholic high school.
Working in the high school I’m able to see many different forms of technology in the classroom, allowing me to see what actually does and doesn’t work in the classroom. Our Yr 7-8 students have been using iPads for the last few years, although we’re switching to laptops for 7-12 next year as we found too many issues with iPads and internet access through the proxy solution mandated by the Catholic Education Office. Every classroom has a SMARTBoard (Interactive Whiteboard) installed, but they’re generally not used as it takes extra time to make a lesson that takes advantage of the “smart” capability of the SMARTBoard and our new classrooms we’re getting built next year will not have SMARTBoards installed
Our staff all have MacBooks which they connect to data projectors in the classroom if needed. We’re heavily using Google Apps within our school, especially Google Drive and Docs. Teacher Dashboard is an excellent addition to Google Apps and something I would consider a must for any school using Google Apps as it helps teachers to easily see what work they’re students have done, as well as sending new resources to students, emailing class groups etc. We also use ClickView for most storing free-to-air TV shows and content which teachers and students can then access online from anywhere, anytime.
Although I haven’t yet done my first prac, I figured I’d give this subject a go as my first hand experience from my job will hopefully get me through the subject. I’m excited to be doing my first prac at the start of next year and am keen to see what other schools outside my local area are doing with technology in the classroom.
Cheers
Nick