Digital Strategy
Digital Strategy
According to Phillippa
Wraitmell (2021) when building a digital Strategy in your school, digital
literacy and competency must be kept relevant by delivering training to
teachers that can prepare our young people for the digital life they will lead,
giving them the digital skills and awareness necessary.
Digital Skills and
competencies of teaching staff
All teaching staff were
active in online school during COVID and were able to organize activities,
lessons and assignments for students during this time. The center has equipped
each of the 5 teachers with laptops and 22 students who were unable to afford
tablets were able to access online school during COVID through a loaner system.
Since the return to face-to-face classes
the teachers still utilize the tablets for home-work assignments. The staff
continue to utilize the zoom platform and google meets for online meetings as
some teachers are also parents of young people with disabilities who attend the
center but it is difficult for them to commute on weekday evenings or weekends
fo r staff meetings. The students are now very familiar with using the tablets
and phones to access online school and complete assigned tasks. Teachers have
introduced them to Apps like live Work sheets and Teacher made. When students
and teachers alike have transportation issues they move to the online platform
for that day.
According to Wraitmell
(2021) every stakeholder must be trained to use the technology to its fullest
potential and it must be used in a full and enriching way. However, at
lifelong, the digital literacy of the administrators, staff, students and
parents is lacking and needs to be urgently addressed if the center is to
continue its work more efficiently in its attempt to improve the At- Risk
special family’s quality of life in this tech heavy 21st century.
Digital Tools
The digital tools needed
in a programme like ours would include software purchases relevant
to executing our vision for effective outreach and relevant skills taught in
our curriculum. The present curriculum would have to be revamped to see the
areas where technology would make a significant difference and bring efficiency to the
teaching learning process, for example the ATM simulator app would be great for
student use in what would be rebranded as the Tech Life Skill Programme. We
would also invest in tech which would allow us to create educational
demonstration videos for simple skill acquisition in Masonry, Tiling, Woodwork
repairs made easy.
Teaching, Learning
and Assessment
At lifelong the
curriculum is mainly based on skill acquisition as opposed to academic
certification. The academics is expressed in what we in special ed refer to as
“functional academics” meaning your Mathematics comes out in your Masonry and Tiling
classes as say measurement, calculating payments for a job and your Language
Arts is embedded in the words in the theory of the subject that you are being
exposed to ie names of tools and materials. Up until now, the curriculum has
been very low tech and based on physical presence in class with a return of
face- to -face classes. We have been researching joining our youth with the
capability to the local CVQ programme and trying to get a CVQ in Life Skills
Training. The current Life Skills Programme teaches those students who are
educable everything they need to know to function effectively in modern day
Barbados, sewing, ironing, cooking, managing money, reading and paying bills at
Sure Pay etc.
In our digital strategy this subject
especially, will be rebranded as the Tech Life Skills programme. We have to
move more teaching online if we are to reach the greatest audience and do the most
good by making the free continuing education programme inclusive of those who
have barriers of physical mobility and location. By moving the programme online and making it video
instructional based, we can use the available technologies to reach other
students in the region who are staying at home and left out of their local
educational system. We can also hire other unemployed professional parents in
other territories and get them started in being productive members of society once more.
Professional
Development
Teachers are lifelong
learners and constantly need to keep abreast of the latest trends and skills
needed to adequately service our learners. Teachers have to be encouraged to
further their teacher training as well at Erdiston Teacher Training College as
this exposure will enhance their lesson planning and execution. According to Wraitmell
(2021) continued professional development is to be encouraged as well as hiring
persons with the requisite qualifications. We will also need what she refers to
as key staff “flagbearers” who would like to help support and develop the
project and to use data – driven research to show “technology resistant” staff
what can be possible. She also suggests testing and developing projects within
subject areas and a survey of staff needs and developments and of course all these
things must be embedded in the vision of the organization.
PLN and PLC
Lifelong is currently not
part of a PLN or PLC. However, because of the success of our pilot project we
need to develop an online presence and links to other parents and teachers of
students with special needs who want to make a difference in the lives of our
young people who have been neglected for so long. The PLN (Personal Learning Network) and PLC (Professional Learning Community), would provide a place
where we can share our successes and failures as well as learn about the
experiences of other teachers in Barbados and the region. By exposing ourselves
to others in the region we are equipping them with a road map of how to achieve
setting up their own model and also widening our own knowledge of the real
state of special education in the region.
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