The vision for contemporary learning across the Cairns Diocese is for Information Communication Technology (ICT) to be integral to learning and teaching in our schools to “empower those in our community to engage with and enrich our ever-changing world”.
(Learning Framework, Catholic Education – Diocese of Cairns)
eLearning
21st century learning demands new pedagogical and technological approaches to using ICT for learning. Our Lady Help of Christians School actively prepares students for the demands of an ever-changing world, through facilitating learning in a technology-rich environment, where students and teachers don’t just learn about technology, they use it to achieve powerful learning and teaching and improve student learning outcomes.
The schools of today offer different learning environments. Technology is very important for today’s classroom. For the students, technology provides them with different ways to go about creating, composing, responding to and using information rather than just reproducing it. This is very different to the education offered to the parents of today’s students. Good teaching is about involving students in learning that is engaging, inspiring and exciting. Our understanding of how students learn has changed and you can see this reflected in the Contemporary Learning Framework.
Technology is constantly changing, something all parents are well-aware of at home. OLHOC regularly reviews the use of technology in the classrooms, the best available software and hardware and the best way to access the web. Technology assists teachers to develop engaging and adaptive environments in which to learn.
See also Facilities
Digital Citizenship
Students have access to more information and communication tools than ever before in human history. Such access calls for a new literacy: digital / ICT literacy. This requires students to be aware, wary and discriminating. OLHOC actively seeks to educate students to make informed choices about the information they seek, the products they want to create and the tools they use.
In the fast-growing world of online education, the concept of digital citizenship is becoming more of a driving force behind how our teachers and students use technology for learning. At OLHOC, digital citizenship establishes how each of us should appropriately and responsibly use, communicate and interact with technology.
Being a good digital citizen means:
- Paying attention to online etiquette
- Following Internet laws
- Staying safe and secure online
- Making ethical decisions
- The Do’s and Don’ts of online communication.
Digital citizenship has an undeniable impact on eLearning programs. At OLHOC, teachers and students are learning more and more about the importance of being a good digital citizen to ensure that online education is effective. And when students understand and practice digital citizenship in the classroom, the online learning environment becomes more than a place of collaboration, but a safe place, where they feel comfortable sharing ideas and can focus on what’s important – learning.
