Integrating ICT at SBC: ICT and Seven Roles of the Educator

1 - Mediator

Blogs where students can reflect on the lesson taught
A space for clarification of issues relating to the use of IT materials and information. Students and other education stake holders can view these materials, interact with one another, evaluate the material and arrive at some consensus based on the relevance of the educational material and the application of the methodology.
Setting up Wikispaces for students to interact with the material and to allow teachers to respond as they get a sense of what students have learnt and what further clarification they require.
Create moderated online groups via social networking sites to enable sharing of information/concerns with parents and students to improve relations.
Teacher's can facilitate one on one dialogue through Chat spaces with students who experience difficulties or want to share enthusiasm.
Teachers can truly give students a voice, especially introverts. Students can use different media whether written as in the case with blogs or voice as is possible with skype to share their views and feelings free from the pressure of their peers.
Teacher can create a mailing list with students so that if problems arise when doing a task or project, students can not only get help from the teacher but other students as well.
Clarification of issues through online communication
At the end of a lesson or topic, encourage students to use word processor to create multiple choice items that test the content taught. Choose some of these items to conduct a quiz. After, discuss both the items and results with the students
Educators could give group assignments and view students interaction and understanding of topics at hand within the group. The educator can intervene or mediate group discussions and clarify any misconceptions within the group without being physically present.

2 - Designer

Videos enforcing subject content, made by the teacher than is suited to the culture of our students
To create educational documents and programs and design games and other educational software that can be used to encourage children to study.
Produce audio versions of books for non-readers or slow readers to ensure access to content material, using the Audacity program, for example, and using student voices to create those audio files.
Use of appropriate software to enable curriculum design and adaptation to specific needs of school. This would be in the form of custom written/tailor-made software.
Teachers can create Tip sheets to which students can refer for simplification of content and skills developed during classroom contact time.
Teacher can use the technology to motivate students to learn by making, often times abstract curriculum material more concrete for students by the use of things from the students' own communities, environment and reality through powerpoints, podcasts etc. Although time consuming, the teacher can use his/her creativity to create something so powerful that the student will have no other choice but to learn. It is here that ICT rewards are felt by both teacher and students.
Creativity is key for this role as an educator; therefore with the use of available ICTS such as voki.com, the curriculum becomes alive and almost tangible and be easier for the students understand and access.
Create software (with animations) that can be used to develop concepts in Mathematics that would hold young children's attention
Use sequenced picturews of a field trip in a slide show and allow students to describe orally or in writing the event. The field trip doesn't necessarily have to be one attended by that class but must be related to the content taught.
Create online activities that facilitates the needs of the various types of learners. The educator could design a scale that allows all learners to move at a pace that is suitable to their ability without being penalised.

3 - Administrator

Use of spreadsheets to keep track of the students progress.
For the purpose of posting assignments and establishing deadlines and other requirements and monitoring students' progress.
A database can be used to store data on student behavioural patterns and learning styles assessed/observed during the course of teaching. This could be shared with other teachers who can add to or corroborate other teachers' observations.
Use of suitable programs for long term analysis of student performance by class/subject to determine positive/negative trends which can be used to develop solutions for school improvement.
Class register can be created with the excel tool . This would enable to keep records of attendance and punctuality updated and at hand should queries about any student be made at any time. Student info should be included.
Use of technology to manage all facets of teaching duties- from databases of parents' contacts, students files and progress charts in excel. Linking student information on behaviour to their grades and attendance so as to make it more clear for everyone the how one affects the other.
With the use of School Information Management System or SIMS (not the game), all teachers are able to have students' information at their finger tips. They will be able to track student attendance, punctuality and grades easily, SR for record keeping and analyses of School performance
For older students, provide opportunities for them to use spreadsheets or word processors to develop and administer duty rosters e.g. roster for setting up equipment for classes
Develop departmental interactive websites where the Head of Department can view the teachers interaction with learners to determine what training is necessary. The educator could also develop tools within the website that allows them to view and compare the progress of all learners. This would aid them in making decisions as to the grouping of learners for various tasks and leadership roles within the classroom.

4 - Scholar

This can be used for the purpose of setting up interactive assignments which require students to investigate and conduct research in order to complete work and prepare for examinations.
Pursuing distance learning online, as well as joining sites, such as ASCD for educators or Questia.com an online library where you can access articles and books for reading.
To share, access and contribute to professional writings via online professional organizations or specialized online communities.
Teachers can take advantage of the various learning opportunities that are offered on line by NGOs free of charge. Moreso in the area of ICT which is the MoE's focus at this time in order to confidently infuse ICT in the curriculum.
Teachers take advantage of online journals and periodicals to keep abreast of developments in education and their subject areas. They can also participate in different learning communities as experts/learners.
Educational websites such as edweek.com sends weekly emails and teachers have the ability to be au courant on the burning issues in education internationally.
for conducting research on several topics
Trying to apply at least two skills obtained or knowledge gained in each module in classroom activity e.g. teach students to create and use a blog for Geography syllabus or email students "one liners" daily any new information relevant to their course of study.
Allow students to create an online journal where the educator could view the entries. The educator could apply these to already exiting theories where learning would take place weather structured (collage courses) or unstructured (self development)

5 - Pastoral

preparation of newsletters to use as correspondence to stakeholders affiliated with the school.
Used as a tool for posting guidelines and instructions for the conduct of educational research and as a forum for interaction between different stakeholders in the educational arena.
Developing a school website which parents have access to information about the school as well as being able to add content. The schools can post pictures and upload videos of interaction between the school and businesses and other educational institutions.
To assist and guide students to access and use online digital coaching(counseling) programmes such as Teen Health Risk Assessment and Teen Succeed which assess student behaviours via questionnaire responses and provides instructions that the student should follow for behavior modification.
Teacher can create communication pathways with the parent(s) or caregivers to entertain and respond to concerns. This is particularly helpful where the school's location is difficult to access among other reasons.
Use of sites such as youtube so that students can showcase their realities to the rest of the world in order to gain national pride. This can hopefully counteract some of the negative effects of cultural imperialism.
The relationship the school has with parents is integral in a student's success. However, due to work/family commitments or finances, parents are not always able to keep track of their children in school. The school can establish different avenues of communication: a Facebook page which is regularly updated with information about the school's activities; SKYPE meetings or use of chat programs when parents' cannot attend meetings; when students have behavioural issues, school counsellorr can use ustream.tv to host workshops and seminars for groups of parents and students who need help.
To assist students with remedial work where they work at their own pace. To inform parents about school activities
Encourage students to join and contribute to community based and educational pages or link on social networking sites such as Facebook such as the Ministry of Education, ODPM
The educator could develop lessons in the affective domain where students are given the responsibility to comment according to their existing values and morals. Parental involvement could be initiated when students are given assignments where parents are to be interviewed. Educators could also set up online delivery of report cards to parents and interactive communication on the learners progress

6 - Assessor

Use of presentation software to prepare quiz for the students. These quiz can be on the students own time and will provide them with their score at the end.
Providing online assessment tools, correct responses and information pools on specific subjects/topics for students to use as the standard for self-marking of tests and corroborating information researched.
Using Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) software to assess and provide feedback on student performance. Some programs are accessible free online which can be downloaded or as website games sites that provide immediate feedback to students.
Allow students to use productivity tools on students’ laptops to complete assignments which can then be assessed by the Educator using suitable rubrics accessed from reputable websites.
Students' performance tracked on excel spreadsheet allows the teacher to readily monitor growth and recognize the need for remediation.
Use of schoolrack and classmarker as assessment tools. Assessing self through the use of blogs and self evaluation tools and quizzes online.
Teachers can use MOODLE. Students can access their assignments and upload them online. Teachers can grade assignments and also administer exams which are quickly marked.
Designing test instruments and analysis of test data
Email students a coursework assignment at a prearranged time, on a taught topic. The test may be open book but the essay or answer must be emailled in a specific time e'g. 45 minutes according to the level of difficulty of the task.
Provide a rubric to students and set dates for the submission of assignments. Educators could also evaluate the students journals to determine if the objective of the lesson is achieved

7 - Specialist

Subscribing to online newsletters, journals and white paper in your subject area. This will ensure that any new material in your subject area will be sent directly to your inbox for quick and easy access.
As a source for accessing specialist information or as a site where experts can be contacted via their web pages or email addresses. All expert information or subject matter may also be made available from this site.
Downloading eBooks and using eReaders to access the latest information in one's subject area as well as online community sites in which people share their research in their various fields of learning.
Use of suitable productivity and editing software to adapt existing material found on the internet to specific needs or to create new instructional subject material pertaining to a specific subject area.
Differentiated learning activities can be placed on the teacher's blog so that students can re-inforce their learning.
Networking with other teachers in an attempt to share resources and in order to gain ideas for the creation of relevant material for students. Ideal for sharing best practices.
Teachers can join online forums which specialize in their subject areas to keep abreast with any trends or changes. Also teachers can seek clarification about topics which are a bit challenging.
To conduct online surveys
Email a PPT (powerpoint presentation) to a colleague from another school and request feedback about same.
Create an online community where specialist in the field could share information and give opinions on various matters related to the field.

Reflection on Activity 1