Research and Resource Development
Most classrooms in the Junior School have data-projectors and some have Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs). A key area of strategic planning for St Andrew’s School for Girls is the creative use of technology in teaching and learning. The manager of Research and Resource Development explores useful technologies, software programmes and websites with a view to using them in the classroom. Ways of incorporating these in the curriculum and supporting teachers as they learn to use these technologies is vital in this role. Some examples of how St Andrew's makes use of this include:
• A group project using cell-phones to record and evaluate participation in Chinese New Year festivities, as part of enriched cultural understanding
• Grade 0 students introducing themselves to class-mates by recording their speeches on flip-video cameras
• Skype connection with a researcher in Antarctica, to provide real-life information on a geography project
• IWBs used to extend and reinforce learning in classrooms from Grade 0-12.
In addtion the use of maps, videos, pictures, sound-bytes and relevant interactive websites is incorporated into lessons where possible.
Other examples of the use of technology and resources in the classroom include:
Teachers are using sound recordings of Afrikaans poems for self-assessment by the students, creating a movie on “The Snow Goose” for English literature, using pictures from the Internet and text recordings.
Real-life photos of the Haiti earthquake were used to stimulate discussion on natural disasters
Skype and email used to link to classrooms in Nigeria (Grade 3), Brazil (Grade 0/7) and Pennsylvania (Grade 6).
Participation with Moravian Academy, Penn, in the 20/20 challenge hosted by the National Association of Independent Schools in the USA.
Use of Google Earth to show students what the terrain is like in other areas of the world.
