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News

  • Volunteers needed at the Jindabyne Ski Sale

    Calling all SMGS families!   The Jindabyne Ski Sale, an initiative of the Rob Kneller Youth Foundation, still needs volunteers to assist with this weekend’s event.   All funds raised will subsidise the cost of school skiing for JCS and SMGS students in years K-2 to encourage participation and exposure to the Snowsports industry.   […]
  • 2023 Redlands Cup Draft Team List (Updated)

    The draft team lists for the 2023 Redlands Cup Competition are now available: 2023 Redlands Cup Draft Team List (Tuesday 30th May 2023) Please direct any queries to snowsports@smgs.nsw.edu.au
  • 2023 Regional Interschools Snowsports Draft Team List

    The draft team lists for the 2023 Regional Interschools Snowsports Competition are now available: 2023 Interschools Snowsports Draft Team List (Tuesday 23rd May 2023) Please direct any queries to snowsports@smgs.nsw.edu.au
  • Snowy Monaro Anzac Day Services

    As ANZAC Day approaches, SMGS encourages our staff and students to participate in the services across our region and beyond.   All students attending the ANZAC Day services must be dressed in full school uniform, including a blazer and school hat.   We take great pride in our student’s participation in this significant event and […]

Technology in Learning

//Technology in Learning

The world around us continues to rapidly evolve. Students are immersed in a multitude of relevant technologies utilised in all forms of living today.

Schools must embrace technology and teach students to be producers, not only consumers, as they interact on their devices.

It is important that pedagogy and learning objectives be the drivers of technology integration, not simply adding devices into a classroom as a bolt-on without the clear purpose of learning 21st century knowledge and skills. Enhancing traditional literacy and numeracy capabilities remains a key priority, while technology is embedded in learning in concert with ‘thinking skills’ such as identify, analyse and solve real-world problems, along with the ability to work and collaborate in teams attaining productive outcomes.

At SMGS, our Senior School students bring their own laptop devices as part of our BYODT (Bring Your Own Designated Technology) program. Our experience informs us that iPads/tablets are not suitable for our Senior School students, given the amount of work undertaken on the devices, storage and organisation, online access, LMS integration, multiple pages open at once, e-textbook requirements, and so on.

There are also additional opportunities for students to pursue learning experiences in technology, including:

  • choosing one of the technology-based electives in the Academies of Excellence Program available to students in Years 7 to 10, and also optional for Years 11 and 12. These include building an underwater submarine, robotics and learning to code
  • join the technology club where a group of students meet regularly with our IT Manager to pursue innovative ideas in technology
  • Electing Information Processes and Technology (IPT) for Years 11 and 12 in the Higher School Certificate curriculum subject elective option. This is delivered in a very small class where all students receive very high levels of personalised teaching.

Our Learning Management System (LMS), CANVAS, is a state-of-the-art digital platform that provides a central location for so much of the learning infrastructure to occur.

Canvas houses a large amount of curriculum, teaching and assessment information for students and parents to access and interact with teachers, including course and class notes, assignments, homework, assessment schedules and resources. This enables learning to be ‘flipped’ in some situations, where students can watch video clips or complete readings prior to class, where the emphasis can then be on unpacking the understanding with the teacher. Canvas also provides a repository for teachers to mark assessment pieces and record feedback for students to access. Parents can also sign in and access much of the material anywhere in the world with internet access.

Similarly, students who travel overseas or are away for extended periods can access much of their work through Canvas and still keep pace with some of the learning occurring. At SMGS we are exploring and researching possibilities to ‘blend’ the learning to ensure we are well situated to teach in a contemporary learning environment in the Senior School and thus ensure our students are fully prepared for the 21st century learning that will be required by employers as our students graduate in a modern, ever-changing world.

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Recent posts about Technology in Learning

Year 6 STEM race to the finish line with their fan-driven carts

By | May 11th, 2022|Categories: Academic, Director of Junior School, Junior School, Science, Technology|

This semester, our Year 6 students have been busy in STEM, re-purposing old equipment to build fan-driven cars. The hands-on activity required students to call upon a breadth of skills, including collaboration, critical thinking, planning, [...]

Engaging students in areas in which they love to learn

By | September 22nd, 2016|Categories: Academic, Academies, Boarding, Deputy Principal, School of Invention, School of Mountain Biking, Science, Senior School, Technology, Uncategorised|

With credible research demonstrating that students in education across the globe are disengaging from learning and school, at Snowy Mountains Grammar School we are heading in the opposite direction and engaging students in areas in [...]

Tearing down the barriers to technology – 5 tips for implementing open technology

By | July 7th, 2016|Categories: Technology|

Throughout my career, I've been told that technology needs to be "controlled". It should be locked down so tight that it is virtually impossible to break or manipulate. The technology is there to "serve a [...]