E-Learning

A Year 7 Maths Class

In September 2004 the School launched an exciting educational programme to provide e-learning opportunities for the students. As we live in a world of rapid change and growth of knowledge our students can no longer be required to be passive recipients of learning. They must become active in their pursuit of information and flexible and critical in their thinking. They are presented with wealth of choices that, only a few years ago, were unimaginable. To function in this type of environment we, as educators, must be able to equip them with the skills and attitudes needed to fulfil their potential. Technology which is becoming more pervasive in all aspects of our lives, gives our student the chance to extend their classrooms beyond the boundaries of the walls through the use of the Internet, e-mail and digital media. Teachers can use these tools to create projects for learning that emphasise the collaborative and co-operative nature of learning allowing pupils to become active participants in their own learning. Knowledge can be acquired in context and often from sources that teachers could once only have dreamed about. The student of tomorrow will have the ability to sift through the wealth of data, critically analysing that of worth while realising that collaboration and team work can yield greater results than working in isolation.

Hardware and Software

If technology is to become another tool that the student can use when required it must become as ubiquitous in the classroom as the pencil and paper. It must be connected to a stable network and always be available. The School has completely overhauled the aging fibre network with new fibre and servers. The rooms used for e-learning have been equipped with specially designed furniture to accommodate the power and data points. The introduction of e-learning is being phased in gradually with Years 4 and 7 being brought onto line each year. Each student in the programme is equiped with the latest notebook computer and up-to-date software. Anti-virus, firewall and safe-surfing software are part of the e-learning environment.