Thanks Diannemh!

Excellent and provocative comments, Sandra! Many thanks!

Thanks Moni.

One of the key challenges the school systems tend to face, and perhaps more so in the Caribbean, is that some schools are much better resourced than the majority of schools. Hence “major schools’, “traditional schools”, “private schools”, etc., that have strong alumni and PTA bodies, etc, and perhaps are able to fund projects independent of government support, are able to provide better facilities for their students, which would reflect in their performance.

hence there are number of schools, and consequently students, that are falling through those cracks…

Thanks Moni. I need to look into that myself…

The e-ljam initiative is a great one that teachers need to follow up on.

Hey ya, I am posting twice in one week. Yea!
1. Agreed and I think that is being addressed not necessarily by educators but by others. I see where two major websites are now available to assist with extra preparation and one on the way. However I think it may just come back down to connectivity and Cost.

2. Yes, the content I refer to was developed especially for the Caribbean not revision tools but content. This done with the view of assisting teachers to present the content.

3. What I found is that schools (Major Secondary) had their ICT subject labs, Math, Business and then they had a room equipped that is not assigned to a particular subject but may be booked by teacher of other subject for use. This setting is not widespread but a good blue print to follow. I found this particular interesting because a similar system exist here only that all subjects (including ICT) in some cases need to book the labs for use.

I noticed that one of the schools being praised for doing well in the recent CSEC and CAPE examinations was one such school that followed that blueprint.

Your five points go straight to the heart of the problems and possible solutions we face in the classroom generally.
In my experience, content developed by regional teachers and used with the technology, are largely relevant to the specific syllabus being pursued.
Having recently completed a course in Technology Integration (in the classroom), I can confidently say that there are tons of free (online) tools available for classroom use anywhere in the world. Eg. wikis, podcasts. blogging, digital story telling, educational management tools etc. The fantastic thing about this too is that computers are not the only ‘output devices’ needed to use these tools.There are projectors, smart boards (and many others given to schools through the local e-learning initiative). Smart phones have a high penetration rate in Jamaica and have the capability to facilitate use and engagement in the teaching/learning environment as well. Though difficult to monitor, we need to explore this as a viable outlet. That way we can broaden the reach from a few to many more students.

Congrats on the new blog!

I appreciate your thoughts, and perhaps should offer some more insight on my perspective:

1. Technology in the classroom, ought not to be construed narrowly – i.e. the classroom only – but also should consider its impact on student life. How can tests administered (albeit some)? Where can classwork and homework be accessed? Where are test results posted? What channels are there for remediation and revision, especially for those who need extra practise? Also, note that most students have a cellphone or even a smartphone, which means that there is the potential for them to be continually connected. In that regard, we might have to revisit our views on connectivity. Is it still a privilege, or should we begin to see it as a right? We in the Caribbean might not immediately have the resources for 100% connectivity, but should it be something to which we should aspire?

2. With regard to content development, is the content being developed relevant to the region? Does it help students to actually learn a concept, or is the emphasis on testing, once the effort has already been made to teach the concept? The development of such learning (not testing or revision) tools, I gather, is quite expensive, so I would be surprised if these tools are being given away freely. Moreover, note that for some subjects, information ought to customised to the Caribbean, e.g. Geography, History, Social Studies, Literature, which again may raise certain challenges to ensure that students can relate to the topic as the syllabi might require.

3. Finally, I do agree that having technology in the classroom does not require students to have computers for every single lesson, but the point is that technology cannot be just an ad hoc consideration. It should affect the teaching methods used, and as you noted, it would not be “a one size fits all” structure, but an important supplement the learning process. Further, as indicated in my first point, when computers (or technology generally) is only available to a select few, admin, labs, etc, it is difficult to rationalise their use in a school of say, 1,000 students, when there is only on lab with 25-50 computers (if you’re lucky!), which might be there primarily for students studying IT and business subjects.

Excellent, Moni! Good to have you back!