Digital Technology

Education is changing... For many of us, where our children learn, what they learn and how they learn is very different from what we experienced at school.

As our world keeps changing we need our young people to be confident, creative, connected and actively involved life-long learners. We need an education system that supports the development of values, knowledge and competencies, and sets them up to do well in the world.

Digital technologies are an important part of your child's world. Your child uses them to connect with each other, to learn new skills and pursue their interests further than has ever been possible.

They also offer new opportunities for teachers and leaders, and new ways for you, your whānau, iwi and community to contribute to your child's learning.

Digital technologies can enable:

• learning to happen anywhere and any at any time, not just in the classroom
• your child to connect and collaborate with other students and teachers outside their school and even across the world
• your child to understand challenging concepts in virtual worlds that would not otherwise be possible
• easy access to the huge range of resources available on the internet to support learning (websites, apps and more)
• you, your family, whānau and community to become more involved and contribute to your child's education, for example through Hero, and
• your child to follow personal interests and talents and access experts not available to them locally.

At Birchville School, we aim to address 3 main areas through our Digital Technology curriculum.

1) Teaching Digital Understanding

We want to help our kids and young people understand how things like computers and the internet actually work. We'll teach them how to use these tools safely and effectively.

2) Helping Everyone Learn

We're making sure that all learners get the chance to become digitally capable. We want them to feel confident when using technology to enhance their learning.

3) Being Creative with Technology

Instead of just using computers, we're focusing on helping students build skills. They'll be more than just people who use technology - they'll be creators too!

Birchville School is well resourced to offer its learners great opportunities to be confident users of digital technology. We have sets of tablets in our Junior classes and 1 to 1 Chromebooks in our Middle and Senior classes (although students are able to bring their own Chromebook from home if they wish).

All syndicates use technology in different ways to enhance their learning. Programmes and apps, such as Hero are used to share their learning, programmes such as Reading Eggs and Mathseeds support the learning happening in class, and other programmes such as Google Docs, Slides, and Minecraft are used to create digital outcomes.

At Birchville School we are constantly reviewing the teaching and learning opportunities we offer our learners. We believe learning is enhanced when digital technologies are integrated into the daily programme and across the curriculum.