NEWSLETTER

Integrating Technology in Our Classroom

Since the start of the year, our senior students have been happy to discover new tools of education in their classroom as part of Alexander school’s ongoing commitment to integrating technology and investing in the education of our future generation.

The latest interactive technology has transformed our learning and teaching practice. The sizeable 86inch touch board is driving group learning to a new level of relevance and engagement. These interactive boards are intuitive technologies that allow students to experience touch, gestures and engagement with the content, the learning, and each other in new ways.

As a result, it is wonderful to note that Alexander school continues to grow technologically by augmenting the already well-resourced classroom facilities. All students are provided with laptops or have access to iPads that are regularly upgraded to run the latest operating system, making them great learning and teaching tools. 

Technology is everywhere we look, and it seems like everything is being constantly enhanced and improved in its capabilities. In particular, electronic, computer, and communications technologies constantly expand in capabilities and applications. Not only has the range of technologies changed, but it has also widened access to knowledge to such an extent that students and others now have to accept the fact that they need to be lifelong learners. It has been said - ‘The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn’. It is also true to say that - ‘Teachers need to integrate technology seamlessly into the curriculum instead of viewing it as an add-on, an afterthought, or an event’. Encouraging students to learn how to learn is, in my opinion, the most important aspect of education.

Members of our staff are constantly looking for ways to use technology innovatively and effectively. Undoubtedly, ever since the introduction of the Laptops and the Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) in all our classrooms, significant changes have taken place in the way we teach or bring information and knowledge to our students. They have become an integral part of our teaching and learning by bringing the world to the forefront of our classrooms even faster, benefiting the learning resources available at our fingertips.

As I have stated in the past, gone are the days when we used computers to do ‘things differently’ at the school. The time has come for teachers to use the computer and other modern educational technology and do ‘different things’ in the classroom. I’m sure that students and teachers will be able to update you on the different things that we do here at Alexander school over the course of the year.

Bilingual Education

Many physiological studies have shown that the brains of bilingual people operate differently to single language speakers, and in fact that learning a second language is a great asset to the cognitive process. Experts say that children who learn a second language beginning in early childhood can benefit from increased critical thinking skills, memory and flexibility of the mind.

University of Queensland bilingual education expert Dr Simone Smala says other benefits of bilingualism include a slower mental decline, a better appreciation of other cultures and increased job prospects. However, despite the benefits, the proportion of students in Australia studying a second language is low compared with other countries. While the government has tried to push and encourage the learning of languages up to the senior years of high school, unfortunately speaking a second language is a skill that isn’t valued by the majority of Australians.

We do know that children who learn languages early have a lot of advantages. For example, there’s an interdependent relationship with English literacy development for children who learn languages early. There is also a greater meta-linguistic awareness, which basically just means the engagement with a second language makes even very young children a lot more aware of language, of its different roles, the structure of sentences and so on.

We also find that there is an increased mental processing capacity through the engagement with a second language, which leads to better memory and better control over information processing. For example, children become better at ignoring not so important facts and focusing on the important things.

In general, there are many advantages to being bilingual. One interesting benefit, based on many research studies, is that knowing a second language can slow down mental decline later in life. We can also see long term benefits in the way that it’s easier to learn more languages if you have learned a second one early in life. Knowing a second language also instils a general appreciation of other cultures and better intercultural understanding.

What we are starting to see now is that most industrialised nations are training their citizens well in English, so their citizens become fully bilingual. Monolingual English speakers might soon be the only monolingual speakers in the world and might be competing for jobs with people who can speak English as a second language well, but also have another language.

Manoug Demirjian

Birthdays March - April

Happy Birthday to…

Zareh V. | Victoria K. | Daniel L. | Grace B. | Nareg B.