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| Minister of Education, Ronald Jones, congratulating Upper 5th student of the Princess Margaret Secondary School, Nausika Callender (left), and Chelsea Simpson of Good Shepherd Primary School. (A. Gaskin/BGIS) |
Students have been urged to "stay on the cutting edge of not just technology, but of learning".
This advice has come from Minister of Education, Ronald Jones, today, after presenting two students who attended the Barbados Technology in Education Conference (BTEC), held from March 14-17, with Kindle Fires, donated by his Ministry.
The conference was conducted under the theme??Transforming Barbadian Education: Learning Powered through Technology and exposed education practitioners, students and the general public to technology and current thinking in the field of pedagogical integration of instructional technology.??
On presenting the tablet computers to 17 year-old, upper 5th student of the Princess Margaret Secondary School, Nausika Callender, and 11 year-old, Chelsea Simpson of Good Shepherd Primary School, he noted that the Ministry was aware that technology needed to be integrated into the classroom.
"Back in the day, we had a tablet too.?? You know what it was??? A slate and graphite, and every single child had a slate.?? That is the evolution of technology and today this is the kind of technology we have… We started technology integration across our school system as far back as 1999.?? This is now 13 years that Barbados has, in fact, employed information technology across the school system… So, our children have no excuse. ??If you don’t have the laptop or computer at home, then you would find it in your schools.?? They are there, and with the appropriate supervision, you can learn and keep learning.?? Don’t stop learning," Mr. Jones cautioned.
He advised students not to be distracted or to yield to peer pressure and complimented the Media Resource Department and other entrepreneurs in Barbados who were producing educational software that could be used not only in the schools, but at home.?? He also revealed that plans were afoot to host another BTEC in 2013 and there was also a possibility of an OAS Technology Conference being held in that same year.??????