A $700,000 technological pilot project announced for J.W. Walker and Alexander MacKenzie schools here last November is making progress in its implementation, principal Cauleen Stanley said.
The process–to develop a home-to-school community through educational application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)–is taking place simultaneously in the three phases, she explained.
“Phase one, hardware acquisition, is well underway. The majority of needed hardware has been purchased–laptops, printers, digital cameras, scanners, projectors, and CD burners,” noted Stanley.
Phase two is the installation of wireless Local Area Network (LAN) connections between Walker and MacKenzie, which now is being established.
“We have two new servers to allow for access without clogging the wireless connection between the schools,” Stanley said. “Some of the laptops have been configured and we have a test lab of 33 running which are being used in the classroom.”
She cited one successful use of the test lab by Larry Patrick’s grade eight class, in which students used an application called “Making History” as part of their history lesson.
“The students were quite excited by the laptops as part of the lesson delivery, and it was interesting that the application they were using was appropriately entitled ‘Making History’ as they were doing that very thing with the wireless environment,” remarked Stanley.
The third phase of the ICT implementation has been training.
“We have had general information sessions with staff and with students,” she noted. “We have also had in-service sessions for our teaching staff in large groups as well as in smaller groups.
“These sessions included workstation basics, and some laptop orientation, to hardware use in the delivery of lessons in the classroom,” she said, adding one-on-one sessions for staff as well as some student and parent workshops are in the works.
“We are very busy and very enthusiastic–we are moving ahead,” Stanley said. “And we also are very fortunate to have this opportunity for students at our schools.”
Besides providing a high-tech environment for students, which eventually will result in more and more homework done electronically, the project is serving as one of five test cases across Ontario.
Data of its success will be used to determine future integration in other schools, as well as to how it can be used to integrate with the new curriculum.
The project is supported by Lakehead University, which also will study its implementation.
Fort Frances Times
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