July 27, 2021

Over the past twenty years, the rapid evolution of technology and greater technological developments in our lifestyles have changed the way we live our lives. These have affected the way we communicate with others, find information, carry out our jobs and how we relax. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and having to stay in our homes, the reality of these developments has truly impacted us – our children are having to attend online lessons through technology and most parents and teachers are working from home. The importance of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) as a subject has never been as relevant.

What is ICT?

Put simply, ICT is learning about how to communicate properly using technology. This includes learning about different software programmes and how they work, different ways that we can communicate with others using technology, the responsibility we have when using technology, and the importance of students finding and assessing information effectively and morally.

With our students learning online through Google for Education, there is a range of apps that they need to familiarise themselves with such as Google Classroom, Google Drive, Google Meet, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Docs and Google Forms – which they are learning about at such a young age.

What are the key aspects of ICT covered in Matrix International Primary School?

Using Technology

One aspect of learning covered through ICT lessons is using technology and software. This is to give our students the knowledge and skills needed in using different programmes and applications to carry out tasks. These include word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, making videos and audio files and computer coding. As students move through their learning in Primary, the knowledge and skills progress in preparation for the more advanced aspects of ICT in Secondary school.

Being A Responsible Digital Citizen
Using the Internet allows our students to become involved with a wide online community of people. As with any community, it is important that our students understand how it works and the responsibilities they have as a member of the community. These include how they behave, their rights and responsibilities, and how their online activities can affect themselves and others.

One important aspect of being a responsible digital citizen is your awareness of your digital footprint. Just like how our fingerprints are unique to ourselves, our digital footprint leaves a trail of information behind as we are online. These can include the websites we visit; the photographs, posts, check-ins and online groups we share or like; personal information we enter and messages and emails we send.

Important things that our students need to do to control who has access to their digital footprint are:

• Tighten your Internet settings or what information you allow websites to access.
• Delete things you don’t want others to see (although they may not completely go away if they have been shared).
• Reset your passwords every 60 to 90 days. Use strong passwords and NEVER share them with others.
• Take time to think carefully before you post or share something.

Validating Information
As we have greater access to a wide range of information at the click of a button, our students need to be aware of the benefits and dangers that come with this privilege. While it can allow us to be more knowledgeable and saves time to find specific information, it also can lead to accessing information that is not true, not age-appropriate, or slanderous. ICT plays an important role in teaching our children about how to search for information safely and to validate information they have found using reputable sources. This is something that they not only need in their younger years, these are important skills that will serve them throughout their lives. Our students are learning so much about giving credit for the information they find when conducting research. They are being given the opportunity to understand the life-long importance of citing the sources of where they gather their information and photographs from, which in turn will help them succeed in their academic futures.

Mr Ryan James Connors has a Master’s Degree in Physical Education and a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. He is best described as highly relationship-oriented and places particular attention on the relationship he builds with students and their families.  He believes that education is a holistic experience that addresses the entire person and not just the “student”.  Mr Ryan is known to try new things and take on board new ideas and bring them into his teaching and work with the students.