Trustees met at the Kenora Board Office on Tuesday, May 8, 2018 for a regular Board meeting.
Superintendent of Education Tania Sterling, presented the newly created Keewatin-Patricia District School Board's (KPDSB) Learning Technologies Strategic Plan to Trustees. The plan was officially launched in recognition of Education Week (May 7-11, 2018).
Creation of the Learning Technologies Strategic Plan started with a 21C gap analysis and needs assessment across the entire KPDSB. The assessment was conducted from October 2017 to April 2018 and included creating a survey for all staff and students on a variety of 21C tools and practices, collecting feedback from different stakeholders groups through meetings and conversations, as well as sending a delegation of staff to the BIT2017 conference in Southern Ontario to network with school boards across the province and research effective models for integrating digital tools into teaching, learning and leading.
Priorities in the plan include:
- Creating a shared vision with input from stakeholders
- Continuing to gather student and stakeholder voice
- Building capacity in future leaders
- Ensuring all KPDSB students are aware of appropriate use of digital learning tools and online networks to ensure safety (Digital Citizenship)
- Making virtual learning environments across all curriculum areas available for students
- Making makerspaces available for all students
- Offering Kindergarten to Grade 12 robotics and coding programs in all schools
- Making augmented/virtual reality available for students in grades 4-12
Sterling stated "Gathering student and teacher voice to help shape where our plan can go next helps us ensure we are preparing our students for an ever-changing world while keeping local needs and interests in mind. We are proud of the exciting opportunities many of our educators are already creating for our students and this formal plan and renewed commitment from our Board of Trustees is going to help us scale up that innovation and provide access to dynamic opportunities across our entire system. We really do feel that technology, when used responsibly and creatively, has the potential to truly make teaching and learning boundless."
