4.++Suggestions+For+Improvement

= //The Only Thing We Have To Fear...// = "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew." - Abraham Lincoln

While it is not a civil war (I hope!) there are changes taking place in education as technology evolves and takes on a new role. In order to better serve our students and prepare them to use the integral tools of New Media the staff must take a number of measures to come out of the past and change how technology is approached. A greater commitment from all stakeholders to adapt technology into our school is needed. Of course none of this can be accomplished without the leadership and support of an effectual administration. Suggestions to do this include:


 * //Improve Staff Use Of Technology//**

As the people charged with preparing students to function in the world of today the staff must make an effort to improve how they use technology in order to provide better examples to students and gain knowledge to be passed onto students. Some suggestions include:

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 * **Train the teaching staff to use technology.** Teachers using technology in their working lives will ultimately help the students in their learning. One way of doing this is to make the connection between the collaborative process that Bill and Ochan stressed and the use of technology. That is, teachers at our school must use technology to improve collaboration between their classes to better deliver relevant, real world content. This is easier to do if material is cross curricular and technology facilitates this. The possible beginnings of a training plan are outlined on the Teacher Training Program page in this wiki.
 * **Mobilize the tech people on the staff through informal pd sessions.** A detailed training program for all teachers is ideal, but until this becomes a reality the best way to begin changes towards technology in the school is for interested teachers to get together regularly and informally to share ideas and improve their technological skills in order to implement in their daily working and teaching.
 * **Make a concerted effort to be more environmentally friendly.** Bambi Betts told us that as an International School we must be educating our students on the issues affecting our world today. One of the major issues affecting all nations in the world today is the environment. What are we doing in our school today to shine a light on this all important issue? One place to start is to make a concerted effort, to reduce our printing and educate our students on the dangers of waste. Doing this will encourage teachers to look for technological solutions to their problems (i.e. - storing emails electronically rather than printing, creating blogs instead of printing off webpages, Using Submit folders instead of insisting on everything being printed and handed in). Here is a video that highlights the problem:

And another one that offers some printing suggestions: media type="youtube" key="vKAyJHhYId8" height="344" width="425" align="center"
 * **Improve our communication and rededicate ourselves to using the No****tice Board.** Our school, quite simply, has a communication problem. We have multiple sources where we can access information. Right now there are three main places where teachers receive and deliver information: the staff white board, email, and the electronic notice board. This issue needs to be addressed to cut down on confusion and putting stress on our network. Many teachers have given up on the notice board but this is the most logical place for so much information to be accessed from. We need to recommit to using it. We can start by reducing our [[file:Everybody Examples.doc]]. A beginning point could be all personal information (ie. things for sale, social events, etc.) are not sent out via email //NO MATTER WHAT// and instead accessed through the notice board. Another example of things that could be removed from the email system and placed on the notice board are general reminders such as uniform, disturbances in Motomachi Park, etc.