Mobile technology is something we all will have to embrace in the modern school library. I would be interested in discussing what we may need regarding technical support.

Cathy's presentation from Wednesday.

It was the Best of Times (ISASA) from Cathy Oxley

Any guidelines about what can be accessed on the net? Can they play games?

How to behave appropriately and responsibly online, to stay safe and to create a positive personal profile are skills that are very topical in educational discussion.

Awareness of the consequences of online behaviour 

respect privacy and personal information – your own and others

select appropriate spaces to work in and contribute to

encourage appropriate, ethical and responsible internet use

 be proactive about inappropriate online behaviour

actively create a positive digital presence and be proud of all you put online

We are preparing pupils for both their working lives and their personal lives by teaching skills of communication, collaboration, research, independent learning and networking. Many current vocations include the integrated use of technology and it could be argued that technology has become integral to everyday communication. Schools spend significant portions of their budgets on monitoring, limiting or restricting access to certain technologies or Internet usage. In many ways, while appreciating school liability and safety concerns, restricting access to technology creates a false environment and limits the development of those skills required for 21st century living and learning. Limiting access to technology reduces pupils’ skills in learning how to behave appropriately and keep safe when using technology. 

A colleague recently commented that with education one isn’t sure until significant time has passed as to whether a particular method or technology has been successful or not. We therefore need budget to experiment, to try new things and to keep asking the question as to whether what we do adds educational value. We consider ourselves fortunate indeed to work at a school that has a single rule for the use of technology in the school; it must be used to improve educational outcomes. If pupils choose to use it in other ways then we regard that as a behaviour issue, not a technology issue and we therefore minimise spend in that area.

So much is possible with modern technology but in South Africa we are limited by the quality of

Internet access. Not having sufficient Internet access actually costs money because schools typically then replicate many of those services in-house, with associated technical and personnel overheads. Schools with Internet access can use free software to do wonderful educational things, besides manage mail, save files etc. It would be interesting to quantify expenses in terms of physical hardware and in-house technical expertise to manage the hardware/software vs using cloud computing to achieve the same end.

I must stress that appropriate Internet use is an essential component of any daily academic programme and that adequate Internet access should become a budgetary priority.

An online community for information resource centers.

Please leave comments and suggestions. Share your ideas.