Opening up the world
Technology breaks down boundaries and brings the world together. Here are four perspectives on how it is changing the way students live and learn
Chris Lister
Teacher, ISS International School, Singapore
A truly creative tool
Having used online learning both as a student (MA Digital Arts Online) and a teacher (my school uses Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment as a platform for online learning), I can see its benefits to both. I believe it is vital that students get the chance to experiment with digital media.
Technology offers new ways of creating art, and also presenting it, whether online (website, blogs, podcasts, videos), in a gallery (video installations, photographic displays), or on television.
The internet lets students carry out research, upload artwork and take part in online webcasts and gallery critiques. Photo manipulation software helps them draft photographic studies and experiment with colour. They get faster results, and storage becomes portable and more manageable.
Perhaps a new digital visual arts course could be taught within the IB arts curriculum, in which technology is used as a medium for creating art. I would be very interested in seeing this happen in the near future.
The old argument of whether it is easier to make digital art compared to, say, painting, is ongoing. But now it is the approaches to themes for which contemporary artists are noticed, rather than their technique alone. Around the world, artists are embracing new technologies as tools for artistic creation.
Digital technology has the potential to make art more accessible and more interactive. As long as artists use it as a tool to create art rather than relying on it to aimlessly search for artistic results, it can be a powerful medium.
Samar Aad Makhoul
Head of ICT, Upper School, British International School, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Bridging the divide
One Thursday in February we woke up in Jeddah unable to use our mobiles, send emails or access the internet. Cut off from the world, I asked myself: can we live without technology? All systems were down for less than an hour, yet it greatly affected us. It made me realize how lucky I am to be part of a school that offers the IB programme, where technology is part of the curriculum.
A few years ago, technology had no place in lists of the most important subjects. Nowadays it is considered a vital part of educational success and convincing students, parents and teachers of its importance is no longer a challenge.
In our school, we have decided that technology should not be an independent subject but an integrated topic across all subjects. Teachers are given all the help they need from professional ICT teachers, and are also offered International Computer Driving License training to enhance their ICT knowledge. When I look back at the way we were taught not so long ago, I really envy our IB students who now have all the resources they need to make their learning a fun and interactive process. Technology motivates students, widens their thinking, and lets them travel the world and study other cultures without leaving their own country. Most importantly, it prepares them for the future.
There is a gap between those who use technology and those who don’t. How can we close it? Through education. In teaching a group of students in an ITGS course about the impact ICT has on our society, we create a bridge of people that can transfer the message to others.
Daniel Todd
PYP coordinator, International School of Uganda, Kampala, Uganda
Understanding is the key
The opportunities presented by new technologies are often not those for which the technology was designed. The mobile phone has transformed lives in many developing nations. Here in Uganda it provides the semi-skilled with a low-cost contact for their services, lets migrant workers transfer funds to remote villages, and is a lifeline for those requiring medical support.
It is this creative use of technology that is really worth learning about. I am always wary of the words, “there’s this great website”. It usually means the website is engaging, but at a very low level – lots of fun quizzes with things to click and drag, but little to learn.
I have observed lessons where students spend hours creating a presentation that dances in rainbow-coloured fonts, yet shows little understanding of the content. But equally, I have seen incredibly useful presentation tools. During a Unit of Inquiry about the school, a group of five-year-olds used aerial photos from Google Earth that had been inserted into a presentation to show how they could navigate around the school. They saw the school from a different perspective and used the pen tool during the slide show to identify the most efficient routes.
Too often, we embrace technology intending to use it ‘correctly’. To equip students for the future of technological change, we must start being more creative. Students must explore a range of options, including non-technological solutions, and learn to select web resources critically.
Sameena Karim
Teacher, Miras International School, Astana, Kazakhstan
Overcoming ignorance
“Inter-cultural conflicts inevitably grow out of inter-cultural ignorance – and in combating ignorance, we also reduce the risk of conflict.” These are the words of His Highness the Aga Khan during the Peterson Lecture commemorating the IB’s 40th anniversary. I believe that modern technology, especially the internet, has a key role to play in the quest to bridge gaps between cultures and overcome this ignorance.
The dawn of the new millennium has seen the rise of email, online chatting and videoconferencing. Blogging has brought to an end the monopoly of content selection once enjoyed by media houses, making the exchange of information and opinions easier than ever before. This freedom to participate in worldwide conversations contributes
to nurturing an open-minded and democratic global society.
IB teachers, myself included, regularly draw on internet resources such as video clips of cultural celebrations, photographs of traditional clothing worn in different countries, music from all corners of the globe, images of artifacts from other lands and poetry to help students gain a deeper understanding of other cultures.
In the future, I believe videoconferencing between students around the world will also become commonplace. This technological interaction between diverse communities from all over the globe will help develop international-mindedness in learners from the earliest stages of their lives, laying the foundations for a more peaceful global society that is enriched by deeper inter-cultural understanding and respect.