Schools embrace technology in classrooms
Preparing students for jobs of the future
It’s no secret that most kids perk up when it’s time to engage with technology at school.
Teachers often use computers, tablets and robotics to help students get a better grasp on their core subjects, but increasingly, these tools are also helping kids prepare for careers that will inevitably make use of high-level technology.
With the advantage of small class sizes and ample resources, many of Calgary’s private schools are working to help their students get a leg up on the kinds of jobs that may await them in the future.
Whether students are planning to pursue careers in health care, science, engineering or traditionally less tech-y professions like law, education or media, it will be important to be techsavvy.
Jocelyn Forrester, who teaches at Delta West Academy, says that her school provides each student with a personal tablet or laptop from kindergarten onwards. Students are trained on both PCs and Macs (specializing on one or the other as they get to the high school grades) so that they can be fluent on both systems once they enter the workforce.
Delta West students also work with robotics and programs such as Lego Mindstorms to get a handle on basic programming. Forrester says kids are drawn to these tools because they’re fun, but that teachers are actively using them to teach valuable problem-solving skills. As students get older
and closer to graduation, they also recognize that coding and other tech skills will help them get a head start in the industries that are bound to offer future job opportunities.
“We definitely try to move towards incorporating some coding in our upper-end classes and talk about where coding might be used within their careers,” Forrester says. “We also have students design their own webpages because so many companies aren’t just looking for resumes, but want applicants to have an online portfolio.”
Webber Academy is another school that offers a STEM-oriented (Science Technology Engineering Math) education; the school has a trained biochemist on staff as the school’s science
lab co-ordinator. Beatriz Garcia-Diaz oversees the school’s science centre and also runs a “designer gene” club where students use special equipment to learn about gene cloning. Webber also offers a program in which students can be linked directly to mentors from the University of Calgary and the Foothills Hospital to get a better handle on future careers.
Not all of Webber’s efforts are science based: the school also hosts professionals from a variety of sectors in its ATB Financial Speaker Series who discuss the state and future of their respective industries. The idea is to give kids the versatile skills they need to evolve as job markets change in the future, no matter
what industry they end up choosing.
“The ethos of Webber is to not only make students strong in science and math and push the boundaries of what’s new, but we also want to build very well-rounded individuals,” Garcia-Diaz says. “Our strong science students go to debates and conferences and show that they’re also strong speakers and know multiple languages. We want to give them all kinds of tools.”
The idea of giving students know-how that can be used in almost any industry also drives the programming at Rundle College. Similar to Delta West Academy, the teachers at Rundle College look at tech as a tool to help students learn a variety of different disciplines,
rather than separating computer skills from the core curriculum.
Tools like computers and robotics are integrated into the school’s programing at the elementary level, making tech skills feel as natural to young students as reading or writing. The school is also able to quickly react to the development of new devices and tools — when new classroom technology becomes available, Rundle College is able to acquire the hardware without the red tape that would come with a larger administrative structure, keeping students on the cutting edge of new technology.
“If we see there’s a need to make a change with what we have, we can have that change
facilitated within that school year,” says Keenan Geer, a teacher and technology integrator at Rundle College. “When we’re talking about tech lifespans, that’s something very powerful.”
When it comes down to it, Calgary’s private schools cannot predict which jobs will be most viable in the future. But they are working hard to make sure their students have the tools to be ready for what lies ahead, no matter what career paths they choose to pursue.
“We can go down the Star Trek list of what jobs of the future may look like,” Geer says. “But the big thing is that kids have technology to facilitate their curriculum learning and be ready for what’s ahead. ”