Page 215 - Technology Plan ICT Review

• Implement curriculum plans and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning
• Apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies • Use technology to enhance their productivity and their professional practice
• Access online resources both for their students and for their own professional development
• Understand the social, ethical, legal and human issues involved in the use of technology in schools and apply that understanding in practice.
•Achieving these expectations should be a professional responsibility of all teachers. •Teachers, especially beginning teachers, should also receive adequate support in the classroom from parents, principals and administration, colleagues, counsellors, online resources, community agencies and programs, call centres, and mentors. In addition, teachers and students should have access to appropriate library resources online to support print materials and library collections.
•Require all teachers to be proficient in the integrated use of technology in their teaching and ensure that they have the necessary support in their classrooms.
•To successfully integrate technology in the classroom, teachers should be expected to: ••Demonstrate a sound understanding of technology and electronic media operations and concepts
•Plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology ••mplement curriculum plans and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning
•Apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies •Use technology to enhance their productivity and their professional practice
• Access online resources both for their students and for their own professional development
• Understand the social, ethical, legal and human issues involved in the use of technology in
schools and apply that understanding in practice.
•Achieving these expectations should be a professional responsibility of all teachers. •Teachers, especially beginning teachers, should also receive adequate support in the classroom from parents, principals and administration, colleagues, counsellors, online resources, community agencies and programs, call centres, and mentors. In addition, teachers and students should have access to appropriate library resources online to support print materials and library collections.
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Model the appropriate application of technology in all teacher preparation programs and provide adequate, ongoing professional development. Teacher preparation programs currently are provided by universities through an agreement with the Minister of Learning. Their students are expected to have all the skills outlined in the Teaching Quality Standard for the province, including the ability to apply a variety of technologies to meet students’ learning needs. While all teacher preparation programs provide some courses on the use of technology, few model and integrate the full potential of technology in courses taught by university faculty members. The same can be said for other post-secondary programs as well. For this reason, earlier recommendations in this report point to the need to examine the use of technology as part of an overall review of the post-secondary system.
In addition to preservice programs, inservice and professional development activities should be available for teachers to allow them to keep up to date on the latest developments, to share best practices, and to access online resources for their students and themselves. This should be included in professional development plans for schools
and individual teachers.
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Expand the use of technology to improve access to education programs and related services in rural and remote communities. Rural and remote schools face a number of challenges in providing the full range of courses for very few students, in attracting and retaining teachers especially in some subject areas like math and science, and in accessing related services their students need such as counselling or diagnosis of learning problems.
Especially with SuperNet in place, the opportunities to address these challenges
through technology should be expanded. Technology can be used to bring online courses to students, access specialist teachers in other centres, connect students and teachers to experts and mentors, or provide counselling services through videoconferencing. These approaches are being used in the health care system through what is called “telehealth” and could also be used to improve access to high quality education programs and services.
Provide adequate funding not only for the purchase of hardware and software but also for necessary technical support, training and continuous upgrading of equipment.
It takes resources and an ongoing investment in technology to ensure that Alberta is a leader in innovation, not only in schools but in all sectors of our economy. Simply purchasing the equipment and placing it in schools isn’t enough. Both technical support and training have to be available. Adequate resources also have to be available to upgrade equipment on a regular basis and to purchase the necessary software and online learning resources.
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