Educators say they have a hard time believing it themselves, but classroom learning is “going Google” at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School in Lindsay, Ontario.
From Google Hangouts excursions to Turkey, to virtual Google Classrooms, to Google Chromebooks for all students — and a teaching staff committed to e-learning — education at St. Thomas Aquinas is being rewired to ensure each student is versed in the digital reality of the future.
Along with new technology, St. Thomas Aquinas is also taking a special collaborative approach to learning, where teachers are “lead learners” and students bring as much as the teachers do to the classroom. It’s paving the path for a new generation in education — one that Principal Laurie Corrigan says she wouldn’t have dreamed possible even five years ago.
Find out more about St. Thomas Aquinas by visiting the school’s Grade 8 Parent Information night on Thursday, January 21st, 2016, beginning at 7 p.m.
Here are five innovative ways St. Thomas Aquinas is preparing their students for future careers.
1. New French Immersion program
Beginning in 2016, students at St. Thomas Aquinas can undertake study in French.
Parents of Grade 8 students in the area can attend an information night in early February, where they’ll be able to connect through Google Hangouts with other high school immersion classrooms to see just how it will work.
As Principal Corrigan says, “Learning languages is like sharpening the edge on your skate: you’ll leave high school with a competitive advantage.”
2. Excellence in mathematics
St. Thomas Aquinas students excel on the standardized math tests from the Goverment of Ontario’s Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO).
For at least three years, every single student studying academic math at St. Thomas Aquinas has reached the provincial benchmark. The school has earned the best EQAO math scores in the City of Kawartha Lakes three years in a row.
How is this achieved?
Teachers at St. Thomas Aquinas greet each new Grade 9 math student with a review of strengths and weaknesses from the prior year. There’s no coasting over the holes in math education; it’s all about filling the gaps, ensuring understanding, and practising application. This is achieved through collaborative inquiry and through moderated marking, so that a consistent approach to learning mathematics can be achieved.
3. Chromebooks for all students
You may ask why a Chromebook? Teachers and administrators say they’ve surveyed students and the majority love the speed of the Chromebook. With Chromebooks, programs and data are stored and accessed in the “cloud” (the Internet) rather than on hard drives. They’re also less expensive than traditional laptops, easier for the school to configure and manage, and they integrate smoothly with Google, which the school has adopted as its primary cloud-based computing platform.
In 2016, parents will have the chance to register for a Chromebook at the January 21st Grade 8 Information Night, and the February 25th Jumpstart Your Career Night.
Students who prefer to use their own laptop or other device can use that instead. The school, which embraces a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model, isn’t picky about what device a student uses — but they are committed to ensuring each student has one to use.
4. Advanced math placement
In advanced mathematics classes, students can earn credits for university or college before they even get there.
What’s not to like about getting ahead, especially in the explosive and high-demand fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)?
5. Blended learning
A Google Classroom not only allows students to learn from one another through collaboration, but gives them access to course material from home or other locations. They can complete and submit their assignments online, in pieces and as a whole. Parents can also monitor what their children are working on.
“The beauty of cloud-based learning is that nothing can be lost,” Principal Corrigan says.
And it’s not just the convenience that Google Classrooms affords teachers and students — the platform encourages social engagement by removing barriers and opening doors.
Students can see and hear the material, add to it, and chat with educators — who remain central in the Google Classroom, just as they are in a regular class. Students can even create new learning opportunities with their classmates by uploading their own material to the classroom.
By focusing on learning and leading, St. Thomas Aquinas is committed to achieve excellence in education by providing students with the kinds of integrated approaches to teaching and learning that will give them the tools they need to be successful 21st-century learners and contributors.
Photos courtesy of Galen Eagle / Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board.
