March 17, 2010
NEW COURSE, NEW TECHNOLOGIES
MACKENZIE BEGINS TO PLUG IN
BY ROBBY MUFF
It‘s not often that new courses are introduced to a school. This year at Mac, a Communication Technology and Innovative Learning course (IDC4U) was offered for grade 12s. Mackenzie was one of six schools in the TDSB who piloted the new project.
During the course, students studied different learning styles, the importance of technology in the classroom, discussed issues with technology in schools and learning, and were taught some skills including: website design, movie editing, podcasting, concept mapping software, flash, SMART technologies and Photoshop.
Ms. Extavour taught the new course. She believes that technology is an important asset to a student‘s learning. “So many of their great ideas are ex-pressed through modern technology and using the technology has become second nature to them.”
The course’s goal was to investi-gate how technology effects teens today. The students completed many assign-ments that would benefit Mac by bringing more technology into classrooms, such as the on-line Macover survey. This tech course was a whole new experience from the ‗sit in a chair and listen to your teacher‘ routine.
For one of their big projects, stu-dents were paired up with teachers for four weeks and introduced new ways of bringing technology into their classrooms. Ashton Taylor, for example, helped Mr. Cade create a website for his class. Other students taught their assigned classes how to use Photoshop, designing and imple-menting SMART board and Clicker ac-tivities, teaching workshops on movie maker, and making a movie for the special education department.
Lily Meshadiyeva enjoyed her experience in the new course. ―I would recommend it to anyone who dis-likes being graded purely on test or exam results, who likes interacting with others, and who is ready to experi-ence something new. This course was so much fun and I looked forward to coming to class every day. I learned so much and can’t think of a better course that I could have taken instead.‖
Not only was this exciting course new at Mackenzie- it made a huge impact on the school. The class submitted a video to Best Buy’s “Best in Class Fund” contest that won $20,000 worth of new technol-ogy. More than 80 submissions were received nationwide and Mackenzie was one of the top three. (See the win-ning video yourself: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=9zljPxO8eNU)
Principal Ms. Green was thrilled with the win. “We’re proud of our stu-dents and staff. This recognition is a dem-onstration of the kind of creativity and dedication that makes our school so spe-cial.”
Mackenzie also won $10,000 ear-lier this year in Best Buy’s Tech it Away initiative, in which students and commu-nity dropped off unwanted household elec-tronics at schools for the purpose of elimi-nating recyclable material from land fill dump sites.
So what will it take to get more technology into Mackenzie classrooms? According to Ms Extavour, ―The best way to get more tech at Mac is for the students to ask for it, for the school to budget and fundraise for it, and for the teachers to be more comfortable with it. Once you have seen what the tech can do- you’re sold.‖
Ashton Taylor highly recommends this new tech course. ―It‘s a great ‗family‘ experience, plus you get to learn so much about technology and you get to make all these new, amazing friends.‖
David Vinnikov agrees that this is a course worth taking. ―IDC was an awe-some course. I really had a lot of fun learn-ing about technology and applying it to Mackenzie. We won $20,000 for the school. What else can I say? I definitely recommend this class to everyone.‖
Future students should consider choosing this one of a kind new technology 4U course next year. It gives Mackenzie students a chance to really show-off their skills and creativity. It‘s a course unlike any other that is packed with excitement, diversity, and learning.
