In late 2005, Auckland Grammar School was chosen as a lead school for professional development of its staff and the staff at Westlake Boys High School. This ICTPD contract, known as WAGS, has enabled training and attendance at workshops and conferences over the period from 2006-2008. The impact of this contract has been considerable. At Auckland Grammar School, the IT learning needs of staff and departments has been complimented by having clear school ICT goals set be the Executive of the school. These are:
2006: "For teachers to become proficient in the use of basic ICT applications."
2007: "To integrate teacher ICT skills and resources into classroom use."
2008: "To extend and institutionalise the use of ICT in professional, classroom and co-curricular practice."
By mid 2006, over 75% of Grammar staff reported that they had used ICT to improve curriculum content and some 65% indicated that their use of ICT had improved curriculum delivery. More detailed results of this survey are in this section of our Intranet. There is no doubt that, by mid-2006, there was a most positive sense of change among our staff as a direct result of imbedded use of ICT. This was also supported by the Board granting each teaching staff member their own laptop from the start of 2006.
However, no matter how much ICT is in teacher's hands, there needs to be a good, reliable and robust network to make it useful in practice. Our Information Services staff have been busy upgrading the network infrastructure, including improved connectivity, through the following strategies:
Fibre connection to our ISP and throughout the campus
Server virtualisation in late 2007
Extended wireless coverage
Increased storage (2 x 2 TB)
Implementation of a reliable VOIP phone system
Purchase of more data projectors for classroom and mobile use
17 new A3 colour laser printers throughout the school
All our ICTPD reports and resources can be found under Sub Pages-->ICTPD Resources. We welcome contact and feedback from other educators on the effective use of ICT for improved professional practice and student learning.