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A catalyst for reflection and change
St Canice's Catholic Primary School, nestled high in the Blue Mountains at Katoomba, is a small Catholic systemic school with an enrolment of around 140 students. Over the past few years, the school has been working towards integrating information and communication technologies into its teaching and learning programs. A recent move to interactive whiteboards, as part of a the Parramatta Diocesan Australian Government Quality Teaching Programme 'Focus on Learning', has accelerated work in this area, leading the teachers to rethink ways of teaching and learning.
Beyond the classroom wallsImages for visual arts lessons, movie clips and accessing websites are just some of the resources that Year 4 teacher, Kay Magann, taps into. 'I couldn't go back to doing things as I did them before … It's all about the broadness of the world out there which, with the interactive whiteboard, you can bring directly into your classroom' Teachers value the seamless quality of the technology, its ease of use and the timeliness of its capabilities. Instead of having to make special arrangements to use the school's bank of computers, the interactive whiteboard is on hand to be used whenever the need arises. In this way, the use of interactive whiteboards becomes integrated into lessons rather than being an add–on. 'You've got the web resources right there, you can highlight, you can move things around. You don't have to hunt through books to find the right materials' commented Year 6 teacher and learning technology coordinator, Jemmy Brickwood.Teachers' professional learningThe 'Focus on Learning' project provided support for outside expertise to assist teachers become familiar with the capabilities of interactive whiteboards. It also provided time for teachers to work in pairs on building technical skills, experimenting with the available software, and devising ways that whiteboards could be used in classroom activities. Teachers constantly talk about their discoveries and share their learning. The smallness of the school means that it's as easy as sitting around a table for everyone to be actively involved in this process.Beyond the 'wow' factor
Once students got over the novelty of interactive whiteboards, they began to see them as a tool for learning, according to Wayne Evans, Year 2/1 teacher. They now use them to display work, to record ideas, to add and change information, and to problem solve. They constantly discuss what they are doing and why they are doing it. The size of the screen and its interactivity makes this process extremely efficient. St Canice's principal, Paul Devlin, feels that the use of interactive whiteboards in classrooms reinforces the Quality Teaching model, especially in relation to communication and co–operation. For Paul, interactive whiteboards suit the nature of today's learners. Students have grown up being exposed to a wide range of digital experiences. Interactive whiteboards engage and capture the imagination of students, engaging students with limited attention span, while at the same time offering opportunity to extend gifted students. |
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| Paul Devlin | Use the links below to view short video highlights from this article. | |
 Kay Magann |
Clip One A short video clip of Wayne sharing his thoughts on some of the positive aspects of IWB's in a classroom. |
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Clip Two A short video clip of Kay on the impact IWB'swith her students. |
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| Jemmy Brickwood | ||
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Clip Three Short video clip of Paul on how the staff chose to undertake the professional learning. |
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| Wayne Evans | ||
| Clip Four Short video clip of Jemmy on how the students have reacted to the use of IWB's in the classroom. |
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