Technology @ McNamara

Technology Inclusion in Instructional Design

There are two main points of entry for a discussion of why it is necessary to integrate technology into the classroom: reactive inclusion and proactive inclusion.

Reactive:

As an institution, we have been trusted for over 50 years with helping to prepare students for the world outside of formal education. Technology, as it becomes more ubiquitous, is now a significant factor in that preparation. Students must have a formal introduction and education in modern technologies in order to be properly prepared for their adult lives.

Proactive:

Beyond simply acknowledging the ubiquity of technology, Bishop McNamara High School chooses to move a step beyond by instructing students on how to use technology to better themselves and the world around them, so as to become more confident, 21st century leaders.

Encouraging Curiosity, Creativity, and Collaboration

With the abundance of information that is available and the ease of access to that information that modern technology has provided, the means of teaching has to evolve. No longer are teachers merely distributors of content; a teachers job, more than ever, is to help guide a student to a place of enlightenment more than simply delivering knowledge.

Technology allows for students to be able to steer their own education. Students do not have to wait for an interesting topic to be introduced in class, they can go discover that topic on their own. A teacher's role is to guide that student in finding their own passions, while still gaining the necessary training to operate in a modern society.

With technology, students have access to:

• Web 2.0 tools: Blogs, wikis, and a variety of video/audio/image sharing capabilities on the internet have evolved the web from a place to get information to a place where information can be create, shared, and developed.
• Digital Content: Through a variety of digital content libraries, users have access to information that would fill a building to capacity.
• Creative Tools: The ubiquity of digital cameras, microphones, and editing software allows students to create their own content. What better way to understand how a dance performance, theater monologue, or foreign language pronunciation is going than recording and observing oneself as an outside observer?

Device Requirements for BYOD

Bishop McNamara is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) school.  Students are required to bring a device that has a physical keyboard and a built-in camera and microphone.  The device must run either Windows OS, macOS, Chrome OS or iOS.  Allowed devices include a Windows or Mac laptop, a Chromebook, or an iPad (not iPhone) with a physical keyboard.  The device must be able to run the Google Suite including Docs, Sheets, Slides, Chrome, etc.