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On April 30, 1999 it was announced that Earl Grey School had been chosen as one of twenty four schools from across Canada to take part in the SchoolNet Network of Innovative Schools pilot project.   The following excerpts are from the proposal that was submitted.   

1. How does the administrative leadership help to make your school innovative in developing ICT as a tool for learning in the school?

In 1995-96, under the direction of the principal, Earl Grey School began an all-girls program at the grades 7 and 8 levels, specializing in math, science and technology. This program, which has grown over the past four years, has been successful and innovative, and has been the jumping off point for great advances in the integration of technology into the curriculum throughout the school in all of its programs, at every level.

Under Mrs. Singer’s leadership, staff have worked together to dream and plan innovative ways to improve student outcomes. Working with a team of 8-10 teachers, Earl Grey School has been successful in writing up several grant proposals that helped to greatly advance the school’s ability to incorporate technology into the curriculum. In May, 1997, the school won a Nortel award for innovations in technology. It resulted in a $10,000 award as well as an all expenses paid educational forum for 6 members of our team in Toronto. In August, 1997, Earl Grey School received a Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Ltd. Citizenship award. As a result we were able to set up a very specialized lab with $89,500 of computer equipment. Mrs. Singer coordinated this project, getting donations from a variety of other sources such as the Royal Canadian Legion, Jostens Canada, parents, etc. In December, 1997, the Winnipeg Development Agreement awarded us a $70,000 grant to hire a technology specialist to help train staff to use computers in the classroom, as well as provide about $10,000 in supplies. This grant was renewed in December, 1998, and will now run until March 31, 2000.

As a result of the above initiatives, Earl Grey School has made significant headway in using technology to deliver the curriculum. Because of our two new labs (the Winnipeg School Division updated our other lab in the summer of 1998 allowing us to put 26 computers into the classrooms), we have had excellent access to computers. In 1998 our two labs were networked, along with the science lab and the library. Plans are underway to network the rest of the school. In May, 1998, our science teacher, Mr. Lyn Madder, won the Prime Minister’s award for excellence in teaching, and he has donated his prize money towards the networking of the school. Mrs. Singer coordinated the write-up of this application. In it is highlighted the very innovative work being done by Mr. Madder with specialized sensors and probes, allowing students to run experiments and chart results using our computers.

Mrs. Singer has strongly encouraged professional development in the area of technology. It has been a primary school goal in the last three years, and both whole school inservices and individual workshops have helped staff to integrate their classroom work using technology. It is now a regular part of the curriculum in all classes, and there is a great range of application, from art to social studies, science experiments, math, and language arts, all with the aim of using technology to improve student outcomes. Significant sums of money have been allocated to purchase special equipment such as digital cameras, a scanner, probes and sensors, an LCD projector, a CD writer, video capture cards and numerous programs. In addition, our school is piloting a computerized junior high report card in which all teachers participated in the direct application. In all situations, we have worked as a team to further the goal of improving learning through this new medium, and we are very proud of the results. On numerous occasions Mrs. Singer and various members of the Earl Grey staff have spoken to other organizations about our work, and we hold this activity of sharing with others in high value.

Mrs. Singer has involved the community at every phase of the above technological plans, and indeed, the parents have been most supportive of their children’s learning to use the latest of technological advances. Parents volunteer their time, money and skills to help us with projects. In addition, they have joined with us to celebrate our various successes and they have had opportunities to work with their children exploring our technological capabilities.

Finally, under the direction of the principal, there has been significant exposure in the media to Earl Grey’s move in the direction of the use of ICT. Over 100 interviews have taken place to date on the all-girls program, the various grants the school has received and on various other topics related to the use of technology at Earl Grey.

2. How involved and committed are the teachers in the innovative use of information technology?

Technology has been a primary school goal for the last three years at Earl Grey School, and teachers determine what goals the school will pursue each year. Through our federal grant, we have been fortunate to have a technology specialist teaching staff to become more comfortable and self-sufficient. It is not just one person in the school specializing in technology that drives the creative force at Earl Grey. Rather, it is a team of teachers educating themselves daily. Our goals have been to deliver all the curricula as effectively as possible, and our belief has been that technology can greatly enhance student outcomes in all areas. The staff realizes the importance of acquiring and modeling new skills for their students. Perhaps more importantly, they understand how critical it is to model the attitude of the successful learner.

This year it was decided that each classroom teacher will do at least one multimedia project using Powerpoint or Hyperstudio before the end of February. Even the Nursery and Kindergarten teachers and their students are significantly involved in the use of technology. They also work on math projects and are doing a multimedia project on mammals with help from their computer buddies.

The teachers show their commitment by giving up a fair amount of their preparation time to learn more about implementing technology into the curriculum. In addition, they have participated in numerous lunch time sessions to learn more about technology. There is a spirit of wanting to learn as much and as quickly as possible in the school. The principal and teachers have also learned from students who are significantly advanced.

This year our teachers have also decided to pilot the new computerized report format. They have spent hours of their own time learning how to do the reports, including comments, on the computer, and have been more advanced in this endeavour than any school in the division.

Significant professional development days have been devoted to the learning of new technologies. As a staff we have devoted at entire days where the staff got together as a group to explore available software and to learn how to use science probes, digital cameras, email, scanners, and presentation software such as Hyperstudio. Furthermore, they have devoted professional development time to share teaching ideas with one another related to ICT and the curriculum.

Specific activities in classrooms just in the last year have included piloting a junior high computer-guided math program, writing letters to Santa (some of which were emailed), twinning with other schools, creating a newspaper, exploring Egypt via the internet, reproducing stained glass bottles electronically, making movie clips, and doing cross-curricular projects in language arts and math. The teachers have worked together to design creative projects and to have their students mentor with one another.

Plans are currently underway to ensure that technology remain a priority at Earl Grey School. At our last staff meeting, the expenditure of $25,000 was approved to network our classrooms to make sure that an infrastructure be in place for future. Commitment is also very strong amongst parents and several have volunteered to pull the wires and supply the necessary materials at cost.

Earl Grey School also has a technology steering committee that includes representation from the division and from our district so that we can keep current and work collaboratively to maximize student learning. This committee researches, recommends, and purchases both software and hardware to be used within the school.

Two of our teachers have provided inservicing in technology to other teachers in Manitoba on a variety of occasions.

Finally, in all of our endeavours to seek funding to ultimately provide the best programs for students, the teachers have given up their lunch hours to work together on applying for grants. Similarly, they have used their personal time to plan together, to research topics, to share their lessons, their progress and their learning, and this has even included significant time in the summer. The Earl Grey staff is highly committed to the furthering of ICT in the classroom.

3. How does ICT contribute to student-centred learning at your school?

The contact with technology has greatly contributed to student-centred learning at Earl Grey School. Students are clearly motivated to do their work independently and many choose to go well beyond the assignment at hand.

In our science program, for example, students research key components of each unit to see where ideas lead. Students find out for themselves what happens in the world with this knowledge. Students find their own application to the topic being taught by the teacher. Because they are choosing where to go, they are more involved in their learning. For example, in the unit on optics, students who wear glasses might search out sites related to their vision problems; others might be more interested in how lenses are made for a telescope. Accountability is increased because the students are responsible for the gathering of information and for choosing a format for the presentation of their final product. Students tend to monitor and evaluate their products naturally, and are eager to learn needed skills to improve their products.

Teachers have found that many students are more willing to take risks while working on the computer than they would be otherwise. They feel more in control and are more able to accept correction by the computer than by another person. The bottom line is that they control the mouse. Controlling the pace at which one learns supports student-centred learning. It also maximizes the output of students. For example, in our coed grade 7-8 class, students who formerly resisted working on math are now clamouring for extra time to work on the computer-guided mathematics curriculum. It is always a challenge for a teacher to meet the curricular needs of twenty-five students in a classroom, all at different skill levels. With computer-guided material, students can experience success by learning at their own level and by controlling the speed at which they learn. We find that this maximizes student output. Every student from Kindergarten to grade 8 is doing a multi-media project that involves collaboration with peers or mentors. This contact with others also serves to improve student-centred learning.

Students are extremely enthusiastic about technology, and their motivation to learn contributes greatly to student-centred learning. Research indicates that children spend many hours a day watching television. This exposure from an early age to a screen is a natural transition for students using ICT in the classroom. Computers are more relevant to many students than are books. Often students are very visually oriented and enjoy the fast-paced, quick response format that technology provides. They enjoy the feeling of being in control of what they view.

The enthusiasm of students for technology is evidenced by the overwhelming attendance at Earl Grey’s weekly computer club that has now spilled over to daily after-school times. Thanks to our grants, we have two full labs, and both are used for this purpose. The activities during these times are generally student-defined and directed. Some of the students choose to use this time to work on homework assignments while others prefer to use this time to update their personal web pages, to email friends, or simply surf the net. This time also allows members of the teaching staff to learn from their students. Many of our students are quite adept with many aspects of information technology, and it is a wonderful boost to their self-esteem for them to be able to teach their teachers.

The teachers at Earl Grey generally teach using a thematic approach, integrating the various curricula. Within these themes, they weave technology into their lessons to enhance student learning. For example, in a unit on Egypt, our Grade 4-5-6 Alternative class researched fascinating sites on the web and took pictures with the digital cameras to illustrate their computer-generated reports. As another example, in Grade 8, students do computer-guided learning in math. They do a large majority of their writing (essays, poetry, reports, journal writing, and letters) using the computer and they research scientific problems and do scientific experiments using technology. Learning is improved in all these areas using ICT since students are more motivated than otherwise and technology leads to a higher level product, when used judiciously. It is simply a part of the teaching process at Earl Grey School. Keyboarding is also taught to improve efficiency.

The teaching process at Earl Grey includes mentoring using computers. Students help one another, both within a class and across classes. Special needs students are helped through pre-teaching on the computer. Later they can better function within the whole class having had this pre-teaching. In some special cases, students feel more comfortable using a computer than interacting with a person; technology aids the learning process in these cases.

Learning is also enhanced at Earl Grey because teachers share what they do with one another. There is a pervasive spirit of technological interest and excitement amongst the staff and students. Students become active participants in their own learning; they can play the role of both creator and learner. Their learning is reinforced through teaching others. Students use the computer as a tool to solve problems, and this problem solving skill gets honed on a regular basis.

Finally, the learning process using ICT is beautifully extended outside the classroom. In our science program, students use sensors and probes in field experiments; they graph their results on the computer and digitally photograph and videotape their experiences. Experiments which can be done outside the walls of the classroom greatly impact on student learning. In addition, with the use of student email and web pages, learning and communicating with others tend to extend beyond the school day and curricula. ICT is integrated into the fabric of student lives.

1. How will the financial assistance be used to further the innovative use of ICT to improve learning in your school?

Earl Grey School has been working with sensors and probes that interface with the computer. Students are currently able to do a variety of experiments using these probes to collect data which can then be manipulated, displayed and stored for future analyses and comparisons. We would like to expand our use of these probes and sensors by purchasing both sound and barometer sensors in addition to purchasing a second set of temperature and heart rate probes. To date we have used these instruments at the junior high level; we would like to expand our use of these probes to the Grades 4, 5, and 6 levels. Our financial assistance would involve professional development of teachers at this level. To go further, we would like to provide as many professional development opportunities as possible for teachers to familiarize themselves with using technology to further learning, not just in science.

We would also use the financial assistance to provide materials that would enhance our delivery of the curriculum, especially in the new Pan Canadian curriculum in science. For example, we would like to purchase software related to the unit on flight. Students would be able to design an airplane and do flight simulation experiments using technology.

The purchase of a lap top would enable us to take the computer out to different sites for both experiments and presentations. It would expand our ability to provide a varied program for students and it would help us to link with the outside community in making presentations to others. It would also allow both students and teachers to learn both during and outside of the school day.

Financial assistance allows the school to continue to move forward in our general plan to fully use ICT in teaching children. It serves as an important motivator for teachers to do what they could not otherwise accomplish. In the past at Earl Grey, it has provided significant impetus to keep thinking creatively as a staff and to encourage the students to do likewise. Future plans include using ICT as an assessment tool to further student learning and to help teachers in evaluating the effectiveness of what they have been doing. With electronic portfolios, students could take pride in their work and move towards even more effective outcomes. Because it is so portable, students have an alternate way of sharing their work with their families and communities.

• Through videoconferencing, we will share our knowledge with other schools both locally and outside of Winnipeg.
• We will share materials, questions, tests, and resources with other schools as we implement units from the Pan Canadian curriculum in science, as well as in other subject areas.
• We will speak to staffs or parents or students, as invited.
• We will continue to seek ways to publicize what we are doing through the media.
• We will hold our annual Young Scientists’ Day and open this up to the community.
• We will continue to seek partnerships with others. Currently, for example, we are working together with St. Ignatius, a private school in Winnipeg.
• We will continue to monitor student outcomes to see how learning and motivation can be maximized for students using ICT.
• To develop perspective, we will share learning materials with other schools.
• We will continue our involvement with the national "Let’s Talk Science" program.
• We will communicate electronically through our school website.
• We will host visitors from other schools and share lesson plans, questions, project ideas, and websites we find useful through our web page and through the production of CD’s.
• We will seek relevant opportunities for professional development.
• We will participate in research projects that seem relevant and helpful to further learning of students.

Earl Grey School is currently involved in a research project as a result of our Hewlett Packard grant. We have agreed to have Grades 5 and 6 students learn both math and science using technology a minimum of one hour per cycle each to see if math and science scores improve. In addition, we are doing attitude and self-esteem testing in our all-girls program at the junior high levels. This program promises to specialize in math, science, and technology.

We are particularly interested in how extensive learning with technology might better prepare girls for the work world, given the lower average salary for females than males in the workforce. However, we are not interested in girls alone. We would be willing to participate in research projects that measure the impact of using technology in the curriculum. We are also interested in attitude testing related to technology and how it impacts on motivation. Finally, we are interested in how technology might help special needs students.

As a school we are not properly set up to do definitive research and would welcome an outside organization such as a university or school board or someone in the private sector to conduct the kinds of research that we are interested in.