I am very proud to work at Wheatley Park School, a school where ‘everyone learning’ comes first, a school where everyone is caring, and a school that is incredibly proud to be the only Secondary school in Oxfordshire with a 1:1 policy. Every member of our school community, both students and staff has their own Chromebook, that they use in lessons and at home, when appropriate to do so.
With the influx of technology available in today’s digital age, it’s no surprise that both the current and future generations of students have a natural curiosity for using and exploring the latest technology and gadgets. It’s part-and-parcel of their everyday lives; they’ve grown up with it and often know more about tech than the older generation, including their parents and teachers.
Implementation of digital content seems to be widely misunderstood. You can’t just drop in a sophisticated digital programme without a really good implementation program. Like with everything in education, it comes down to the person. If teachers are ill-equipped to use new programs, they will fall back on traditional teaching methods.
Gratnells, best known for 40 years of designing, manufacturing and marketing advanced storage systems, has developed a smart, responsive approach to meet the increasing demand for digital technology in schools and colleges. The company has used its in-depth knowledge of the education sector to react to this rapidly-growing trend, delivering storage systems that are compact, lightweight and versatile while providing security and additional functionality.
Around 20 years ago, Mr Apple himself, Steve Jobs, uttered the sentence “What’s wrong with education cannot be fixed with technology.” Somehow, though, iPads and other tablet computers have found their way into classrooms and learning environments across the world, helping people of all ages pick up new skills more efficiently than ever before. Each of these comparatively tiny devices contains more power than the supercomputer of yesteryear, and the number of ways in which it can be harnessed for the sake of education continues to grow.
When I started at Westmorland School 18 months ago, I was given the task of raising standards in Computing and implementing new technology across the school. Although this was a massive task, it was an exciting challenge - I could both share my experience and also raise the excitement of using technology across the school.
We are witnessing a huge sea change in the way education is being offered in our schools now. Devices are cheaper than ever, and it is now an option to provide a machine to every student in a school. Whether it is through BYOD, or the whole-scale purchase of technology for the classroom, 1:1 is becoming a reality in all of our schools.
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