Developing digital creators and innovators

Courtesy of The Pillars magazine, Pickering College

Technology is playing an increasingly important role for all students both inside and outside the classroom. That’s why Pickering College has made it a key focal point of the Global Leadership Program to ensure our students are embracing new technology and mastering its use, from our youngest students to our graduates.

In the Junior School – the Foundation Years – the Global Leadership Program focuses on inquiry, creativity and collaboration and students are introduced to technology from the very beginning.

Alexis Furlan, Kindergarten teacher, says very early on her students are well versed in using technology to enhance their learning, such as working with Code-a-Pillar, a precursor to coding and robotics. The colourful device allows students to experiment as they play, helping them to develop coding, sequencing and critical thinking skills.

“As a result, they’re confident and comfortable with various media before they reach the later grades,” she says.

In addition, students in the Junior School receive continuous feedback both from their teacher and through the use of Sesame, an assessment platform used by Pickering’s primary teachers to provide a living, visual record of student competencies.

“We use photographs and videos to assist students in reflecting back on their thinking,” Furlan explains. “We might look at and discuss photos of students engaged in an activity and include a quote of something they said in the moment.”

By Grades 4 and 5, students are comfortable with having such ready access to technology including using computers, mobile devices, 3D printers, robotics, and coding. Grade 5 teacher Alex Au Yong says, with some guidance, students in these grades are able to make good choices and conduct themselves responsibly.

“Our students are taught that these tools help express ideas, create original content and solve problems,” Au Yong says. “The high level of engagement and interest in our design and build challenges, such as Lego robotics and coding, is incredible. Our students in the Junior School also love using Google Apps for Education and Edsby, our learning management system, as a natural part of their learning."

According to Pickering College’s technology integration specialist, Gordon Chiu, all of the tools at students’ disposal are really just “modern day paintbrushes” to develop critical thinking, integrative thinking and design thinking skills.

"Even though students of this current generation are widely considered as digital natives, most will develop into digital native consumers without any purposeful engagement of the mind,” Chiu says. “It’s our mission to develop students who are digital native creators and innovators.”

The ability to use technology in an innovative way to create products and solve important problems is critically important for 21st century students, says Julia Hunt, Director of Global Leadership.

“Our Junior School Global Leadership Program, the Foundation Years, sets the foundation for this type of interaction with the global context through carefully selected technological tools and platforms,” she says. “Creativity and innovation are transferable skills that can be applied to any context, giving Pickering College students a competitive edge in their future endeavors."

Technology integration by grade:

Kindergarten: Code-a-pillar

Grade 1: Dash and Dot, Hour of Code

Grade 2: Hour of Code, May the Fourth, Dash and Dot

Grade 3: Hour of Code, FIRST LEGO League Junior, Coding, Dash and Dot

Grades 4 and 5: Hour of Code, Lego Mindstorm Robot Programming, FIRST LEGO League

For more information about the programs at Pickering College, please contact the Admission Office at admission@pickeringcollege.on.ca or Julia Hunt at jhunt@pickeringcollege.on.ca.