Page 26 - Beacon Hill School Annual Report 2016-17
P. 26
Learning Technology Learning Technology
Having completed our first year with our new for coding that students at Beacon Hill School
Learning Technology space ‘The Cloud’, we had enjoy. Students across all year levels are
a great year further developing our technology being given the skills to explore their creativity
provision and programs across the school. through designing programs and software. We
During the school year we have improved the were very pleased to have three students in
equipment available for students to use in Year 6 publish apps to the App Store as part
The Cloud. This has included the purchase of their PYP Exhibition.
of a larger 3D printer, MakeBlock robotics
equipment, Makey Makeys, Raspberry Pis and Education trends in technology have been
other equipment to support the technology and moving towards a greater focus on creativity,
coding curricula. After the successful roll out innovation and making. It has been a focus
of iPads in Years 1, Year 2 and The Cloud, we this year to bring creativity with technology to
purchased 15 more iPads for general student all year levels. In Year 4, students designed
use in addition to 10 iPads in the Library. and 3D printed an entire city by each student
creating an individual building. The project was
Our 1:1 Chromebook program has continued to part of Year 4’s structures Unit of Inquiry
be successful since rolling out to Year 4 and 5. and enabled the students to learn 3D CAD
We made the decision to extend the program software and how to manipulate 3D shapes to
down to Year 3 with the additional purchase build objects. The final city impressed the CAD
of 100 Chromebooks. These Chromebooks are software developers who used images of it on
designed for younger learners with a drop their website and in their education training
proof casing and carrying handle for moving materials. Students in Year 5 designed cars
around the school. The students have been which they 3D printed, they then added
using them across all curriculum areas and electronics to them to build electric wind
this deployment has enabled us to revise areas powered cars for a race. Year 6 worked on a
of the curriculum to bring more skills based robotics and coding project towards the end of
technology learning into Year 3. the school year where they built robot ‘Balloon
Battle Bots’ that they coded to battle each
Learning Technology Our Learning Technology scope and sequence is other trying to pop the other robots’ balloons.
broadly based on the ISTE (International Society
for Technology in Education) standards. We Mr Stuart Lowe rejoined Beacon Hill School on
have begun to move our curricular goals over to a full-time basis. He is working with all students
the newly revised standards that include more in the school as well as supporting staff in their
modern uses of technology for creativity and development of learning technology skills.
a larger focus on digital citizenship. This year
also saw the expansion of the opportunities