Module 9 Activity 3: Thinking about the whole school

Presently, my school is at a stage of development where a small percentage of the staff is actually engaged in integrating ICTs in their teaching and this can be credited to a professional development exercise that was executed at the commencement of the first term. Many of the staff members are still reluctant in utilizing the skills learnt and this may be attributed to lack of confidence as a result of lack of follow up consistent training. In recent times, due to partnerships between the school and some good corporate citizens in collaboration with the PTA, the school was outfitted with full Wi-Fi internet connections and a mobile projector. So, although the staff members are sceptical about integration, the use of internet for research and accessing learning resources is evidently prevalent. Some staff members are also being observed using social media during working hours in a non-productive beneficial manner to enhance the learning process.

There are general fundraising activities carried out at various intervals but these are not specific to any particular project. Physical and infrastructural resources are grossly inadequate to accommodate ICT tools and equipment in a modern day classroom. There is limited communication between principal and staff via email and other technological media, while some staff members communicate with their parents via this mode. The curriculum is at a stage of revision to integrate technology as a way of enhancing the teaching/learning process and there is evidence of teamwork amongst staff members as they share and support each other in accomplishing several tasks. However, the administrative duties of the school are mostly done using the traditional methods with minimal use of technology. The students are engaged in journal writing every day, reflecting on the learning that takes place.

My area of focus is staff development and my vision is to have a staff that is adequately trained and developed with the requisite skills and competencies to efficiently and effectively integrate technology in all aspects of their duties, in an effort to maximize the potential of the learners and the institution. In this way ICT will change the way things are done in the following ways:

·         Improving communication and collaboration between principal, staff, students and parents by fully utilizing technology (emails, windows live messenger, video-conferencing)

·         Utilizing technological tools to execute administrative duties (reports, registers, record keeping, etc)

·         Utilizing the technology to enhance the overall teaching and learning process, and curriculum integration (PowerPoint, blogs, emails, discussion forum, etc)

·         Promoting teamwork across boundaries using technological tools and resources (Skype, forum, blogs, etc)

·         Providing avenues for critical reflection (blogs)