for Teaching and School Leadership). These government agencies provided a national perspective on education initiatives and priorities in Australia. There are many parallels with education initiatives in the US. There big push is broadband and devices in the hands of all students.
Next I visited Carlton Gardens Primary School which was across the street from the museum. It is a small public Pk-5 school with about 250 students. The building was built in 1884 and was truly a beautiful architectural structure. However, the rooms were extremely small for 30 students. The amazing thing was that the old building, the structural issues, the inexperienced staff (all had less than 4 years teaching) did not keep the teachers from truly integrating technology into the curriculum. It was everywhere and was as normal to the environment as breathing. The staff was passionate about what they do and Margaret Mead would have been proud -- Never underestimate what a small group of people can do... They even had students as ICT coaches! How cool! They started in the 3rd grade and are now 6th graders. They have helped train the teachers and students. I have seen exemplary models of high school help desk teams but never at the elementary school with 3rd grade leaders --- pretty cool!
Below you will see some pictures from this visit. A great day! Ready for three school visits tomorrow :-)
Melbourne Museum
Carlton Primary School
Kindergarten class - the laptops are bigger than the students!
The technology Coaches
The school - magnificent structure - right?
I love Australia! It is a beautiful place to visit and the hospitality is second to none. They do not have a teacher retention problem. The salary is about $90,000 and the standards are very high to be a teacher. This school wanted to do something innovative and many of the teachers left and/or were replaced with teachers who wanted to live the vision. I have had some time to shop but am limited due to the high demand on our time in schools, tours and with dignitaries. I have Friday afternoon off and I plan to shop till I drop :-)
ReplyDeleteWe are getting a STAT (Student Technology Assistance Team) up and running at our elementary thanks for funding from a PET Grant, a foundation associated with WEMTA (Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association). As I had researched getting one started, I found little to no guidance online as to how to do this at an elementary school. I would love to contact this school to find out more about how they do it. Would you have a direct contact for me on this?
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your grant. Below is all the contact information that I have. I hope this helps. It was an amazing school.
Tina McDougall is the Principal
The school is on Twitter @CarltonGardens
Carlton Gardens Primary School
215 Rathdowne Street,
Carlton, VIC 3053
Telephone: +61 3 9663 6502
Fax: +61 3 9639 1220
Email: carlton.ps.rathdowne@edumail.vic.gov.au
http://www.carltongardens.vic.edu.au/