St Agnes’ Technology Group

A Thursday afternoon during period 5 is a time that many students are either at PDSSSC or in their Enrichment Learning Program class, however if you see Mr McGuire in the library at this time, you will notice with him a group of students known as the 'technology group.' During this class, students are actively engaging and learning about technology with the use of an iPad.

For many an iPad is a tool for entertainment, which it most definitely is, however it is also a big tool for education. Putting the words 'entertainment' and 'education' together can give you the conclusion of finding entertaining ways to be able to learn any content related to a certain subject. With schools around the country consistently using technology to enhance learning, such as our very own St Agnes, when the iPad was first released it automatically left educators of thinking of ways how we could use this device to support learning. It was not long before apps were made to target certain subjects and years. Teachers were amazed at the possible ways in which they could now teach classes with the use of iPads. Although through this amazing invention, many still question the use of pen and paper as a way of learning. The use of an iPad in school is not to overtake this method, but yet to use it to help students understand content visually in a way that a textbook wouldn't be able to. With an iPad, it caters to different students and the way they learn, whether that be visually, by audio, or any other method.

The technology group at St Agnes have explored a numerous amount of apps that will be useful in an everyday class lesson such as iCloud, keynote, iMovie and GarageBand. Within a term, these students have gained confidence in knowing that they can use these apps and be able to go into the classroom and share the knowledge to fellow peers and teachers. The technology group at our school rotates on a term basis, giving other students the opportunity to be part of this enriching experience.

The great thing we have found with our current technology group is that they themselves are enjoying the apps and would willingly use it in the future; as they find it a useful tool that they believe would benefit their learning. The main reason of our technology group existing is the exciting news that the iPads will soon be rolled out at St Agnes for all year 8 students to use. The technology groups that we are training will then be able to go into their classroom and easily pass on the information.

Our technology group at school is a great bonus for the students taking part as not only is it a great incentive with them learning about the different things an iPad is capable of when it comes to learning in the classroom, but also skills they can take away from the sessions that they will have for life.

Lois Uremovic

Technology Group Mentor
Year 10 Student at St Agnes