Blogpost 3: ESE & ICT Masterplans

In general, the school has used ICT to engage the students and to equip teachers to have a variety of teaching strategies and methods.

Wireless internet is provided through 10 access points in various parts of the school in April 2009 to enable lessons to be carried out beyond the classroom. There is also an IT literacy programme for lower secondary students to ensure that they are familiar with IT resources.

However, based upon the views of the HOD and ICT coordinator, it depends very much on the department and individual teachers as to whether ICT is preferred. The Mathematics Department recently procured a new software to carry out quizzes and lessons for students. This shows a willingness to engage ICT to boost learning opportunities and platforms for the students. However, other departments still use ICT only to a limited extent such as the English department, which may still prefer traditional methods such as teacher centered pedagogies.

One must also note that their schedule of work for the year was planned without infusing ICT in mind but more of the students’ learning capabilities and level of knowledge. There is however a general shift towards using ICT as more and more teachers are not only encouraged but exposed to more ICT resources to help in their work. The various HODs plan to infuse more ICT resources into their schedule of work for the next academic year. In addition, the school plans to have a day of E-learning for the school on 1 August 2011.

Many teachers also acknowledged that ICT does aid to a large extent in engaging students. They also displayed a willingness to utilize it as long as they themselves are able to master it and able to translate it into lesson plans.

While Northbrooks Secondary School does not utilize ICT as widely as compared to other schools, the transition towards a more varied and holistic usage of ICT is very much salient. With teachers being open to the plans and resources, departments encouraging the use of ICT and students wanting to be engaged based on a variety of teaching methods, one will be able to see more positive results from Northbrooks Secondary School’s engagement of ICT in the next year and beyond.