INTRODUCTION

 Background 

MISSION STATEMENT: 

To provide a secure, structured and innovative environment which empowers staff and students to maximize their potential to develop into responsible, creative, caring members of our changing society

The Ellerslie School is a co-educational institution located in Black Rock St. Michael, which was established on September 19th, 1966.  It has a role of approximately 960 students and 68 teachers and caters to students from First to Sixth Form. The Sixth Form is a new addition which was officially opened in September in 2017.

The organizational structure of the school is as follows: Principal, Deputy Principal, Senior Teachers, Heads of Department and Guidance Department.

There are 10 departments and 6 year groups which cover a wide curriculum, including CCSLC, CSEC and CAPE examinations.  

All of the staff has engaged in some form of Technology training and members are well versed in at least one digital tool to enhance teaching and learning.

 

Overview

What is a digital strategy? How can institutions benefit?

A digital strategy establishes the direction an institution will follow digitally.  It has a clear purpose for the use of the technologies to be used and is guided by the technology plan of an educational institution.  A digital strategy looks to improve the efficiency of the teaching approaches thereby become a more effective tool for student learning and effective school administration.  

Educational institutions have seen some benefits from having such a direction to follow, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.  With education moving from the traditional face to face teaching, educators needed to pivot almost immediately and adapt to an online program.  Having an adequate plan in place and in use would have made the process much easier to navigate for all involved.  

This strategy should be driven by the educators and should fit within the budget of the institution.  Educators in the classroom must be the catalysts in ensuring that they are part of the decision on the tools to be used which will have a positive impact on learning.

An institution's digital strategy should have a clear purpose, be effective in student learning and be efficient for the for the Educational practitioners.

Purpose and Vision

In an advancing digital and technological environment, more and more, institutions are seeing the benefits of implementing a digital strategy.  Educational institutions are no different, as students need to well versed in technology to become competent in this changing environment.  An Institution's education technology plays a major part in the development of a digital strategy in order to support student engagement, help the student to develop the requisite skill set in collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and communication.  

Digital technology is used to enhance student productivity.  Teachers who actively use digital tools see a greater increase in student engagement in the classroom.  Subject content may remain unchanged, however the method of teaching or presenting the information has.  According to a US Department of Education Report 2019-20, over 40% of schools felt that the use of technology was helping the students to learn more actively and over 30% agreed that its use allowed students to learn more independently and become more self directed.

It can also assist with the administrative workload, helping educators to find resources with more ease, while limiting the amount of paper based work and allowing staff to focus more on teaching.  With more access to a variety of assessment tools educators can improve the immediacy of feedback to students, with easier methods.  Further development of any existing digital strategy can only serve to increase performance for the school community which includes the parents, students and staff.