Reflection

I so appreciatethat this project gives us a chance to talk about our computing 1:1 program with our IT director. This program has been implemented for 10 years from 2008. Overall we are on the track of the original goal: enhance students’ learning and enable them to develop technology skills for life. Bible tells us “train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).  We are leading our lives in the digital world, it is impossible we abandon technology from child’s life. So it is every educator’ s responsibility to guide our students to gain competence for the 21st century to be good digital citizens to lead digital well-being in their lives.  In 10 years, the program has been growing up in many aspects which now covers 100% of students from K-12, benefits most of the students in the school. From the infographic we can see the whole structure and status of this program. It is paving the path to the destination: digital citizenship.

Successes

Equitable Access

Every year we get support from the school head on significant amount budget to invest new equipment and the latest technologies to improve engagement and interaction in classrooms. We make an effort on equitable digital access of devices and information because we think it is everybody’s rights and also the important experiences in the digital environment. We adopt iPads for students in K – 7. iPad access rises from 0% to 100% in K; from 20% to 70% in Grade 1-7. In addition, we also provide 24 shared laptops for elementary. We adopt Apple laptops for students in grade 7-12 which was 3 computer carts with 24 shared laptops 5 years before to each student one laptop now. Additional, we also set up computers in parents lounges which will help them to get school’s updates timely. Our country has a special policy on VPN, which makes limitation on recourses and information. From this interview, we can see the IT district keeps cooperation with authorized internet provider to get VPN access legally which benefits the whole school to access global information equity. Also, provide teachers VPN at home to support their work out of school.

Clean Barriers

IT director decides on investment of equipment and learning and teaching systems (SIS, LMS) wisely which make teachers’ work simple and easy to help them lead a positive attitude on digital technology in teaching practice. We provide PD to teachers monthly which is good for sharing experiences, discussing how to improve teaching through digital technology, collaborating with peers to explore the maxima advantages from technology to enhance students’ learning. Besides IT, we also set divisional tech leaders to facilitate technical issues to give teachers a clear direction. Mentorship and Go to person programs can help to clean the barriers when teachers try to adapt digital technology into curriculums. In the digital context, it is our responsibility to foster good digital citizens with 21st-century skills. In our school, we provide all kinds of tech support and PD to teachers and provide digital literacy to students to help them to know how to use this powerful toolbox wisely, critically, and ethically.

The Guard

From the interview, we can see IT district is like a guard who set surveillance and IT policies to create a healthy and secure digital environment to promote students to achieve digital citizenship.

Challenges 

What We Still Need

With the robust infrastructure of 1:1 computing program, we still have a long road to complete digital literacy and digital support spreading into home and communities. We also need to focus on the digital literacy integrated into the curriculums at school. We need to equip IT staff to catch up with the latest technical knowledge through PD to facilitate teaching practice. We are so excited after we saw the report, and we decided to make a statement each year which can show us clearly if we are ongoing improving digital citizenship in our school.