01 - Department of Education and Communities - NSW Government

EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AND LEARNINGTEACHERS USING TECHNOLOGYGive teachersopportunitiesto improve skilllevels in theuse oftechnology.Internet TrainingAll schools were connected to theInternet in 1996 and began the newschool year ‘on-line’. In 1997activity was directed towards theeffective use of the Internet inschools. Each school had anInternet Contact Person (ICP) whosupported the Internet in the school.In 1997 ICP training wasundertaken by 2632 teachers. Thetraining was conducted by 18training institutions (involving allNSW universities and some TAFEcolleges) using 30 sites across thestate. One person in each schoolwas funded to attend the programand 429 additional teachers anddistrict office personnel attended attheir school or district’s expense.Several one day Making the NetReturns Worthwhile workshopswere held across the state duringSemester 1, 1997. A total of 307teachers, teacher/librarians andInternet contact people from 194schools took part.The workshop focused on thedevelopment of information skillsneeded for teachers and students tosearch effectively and to analyseinformation found on the Internet.The printed workshop material wasdistributed to all schools across thestate. General feedback fromparticipants indicated that they feltmore confident about Internetsearching.The DSE established a home pageon the Internet to enable teachersto access course material andsupport personnel, support forschool-based programs andinitiatives, and assistance in usingand locating information on theInternet.By Term 4, 1997 access to WorldWide Web resources had grown to500,000 requests per day. The useof electronic mail provided by theservice enables teachers andstudents to communicate andcollaborate more easily withinterstate and internationalcolleagues.The Technology inLearning and TeachingProgramThe Technology in Learning andTeaching Program (TILT) isdesigned to develop the technologyskills of teachers and to promote theapplication of technology inteaching and learning across thecurriculum, K-12. The TILTtraining and development programhas six components which coverthe following areas:• applications software andkeyboard skills• the Internet and other on-lineservices• computer and relatedtechnologies• using technologies in allsubject areas• classroom teaching practicesand classroom managementissues• future directions.Each of the six componentscomprises a one hour video, a twohour hands on workshop and inschoolfollow up activities.In 1997, 6826 teachers undertookthe TILT program. A surveyconducted on the effectiveness ofthe program revealed that the mostuseful activities in the TILTprogram were accessing the40 DSE Annual Report 1997