Queensland Smart Classrooms Strategy

The Queensland Department of Education and Training has a Smart Classrooms strategy. The strategy includes a Professional Development Framework for digital pedagogy, with three levels:

1. ICT Certificate: Outlines a foundational level of ICT use for teaching in the 21st century
2. Digital Pedagogy Licence: Acknowledges teachers who effectively embrace digital pedagogy
3. Digital Pedagogy Licence Advanced : Acknowledges teachers who embrace digital pedagogy and demonstrate leadership of this within school.

Unfortunately the latest version of the 2011-2014 Smart Classrooms strategy is communicated in the not-so-smart format of a 1.8 Mbyte PDF file. The document is only the equivalent of six printed pages, with the bulk taken up with some decorative images. There is also one table which is sideways in the PDF document. The Department needs to put the content in a proper e-document which can be read on-line.

Here is an extract from the strategy, which I have had to reformat to make readable:

SMART Classrooms

This updated Smart Classrooms strategy builds on and acknowledges the distance travelled in previous ICT strategies. The new 2011-2014 strategy provides direction for harnessing the learning and business potential of ICT now and into the future and is the latest chapter in the clear, cohesive digital learning story that has evolved in Queensland over the past seven years.

This strategy recognises the demand for seamless movement between school, work, home and play. It is about educators and students working digitally in ways that pervade and impact every aspect of schooling (teaching and learning), and about providing personalised pathways to learning success.

Building on Using business intelligence gleaned in previous years, the Smart Classrooms strategy has evolved, building on its focus on teaching and learning, providing a greater range of aligned and complementary services when working digitally. Smart Classrooms projects are designed to support learners and learning, creating the conditions for student success in a complex, changing digital world.

Cultural change

The strategy promotes the cultural change required to shape learning and the delivery of education services. Programs and initiatives within the strategy are directed at supporting school leadership teams to identify where their schools are now, where they want to be and how are they are going to get there.

Unlocking the potential

Smart Classrooms recognises there is still untapped potential that can be realised through the collaboration and sharing of best practice within the learning community. This is consolidated through a defined approach to systems focused on the user, that blend local and centrally provided content, delivered through a range of services that promote innovation.

This strategy promotes tailored professional development programs that showcase personalised learning through efficient use of eLearning tools and spaces. It provides the foundation that will allow teachers and school leaders to work together to deliver quality teaching and learning in a contemporary environment.

Enabling innovation

The department has taken significant steps towards transforming into an eBusiness to meet the future needs of education and schooling. The next phase of Smart Classrooms is about enabling innovation - creating the launch pad for shifting from traditional to transformational ways of working and learning.

Through Smart Classroom programs technology and learning platforms have been provided to enable creativity and innovation in the classroom. Students and teachers can now interact (learn, discover, collaborate, create and share) in a safe, fun, engaging and supportive
environment.

The Smart Classrooms eLearning Index has been revised to reflect this new strategy, and therefore places greater emphasis on learning and allows schools to respond to
the challenges of living and learning in a dynamic digital world.

The table on pages 3-4 provides the outline of the Index and showcases the various Smart Classrooms projects that fit across its four new drivers:

• Working Digitally
• Developing Professionals
• Enabling Learners
• Harnessing the Enterprise Platform.

School leaders are encouraged to engage with each of these Smart Classrooms initiatives to further promote an
eLearning culture.

eLearning planning

The School ICT eLearning Census collects information to aid in the calculation of the School ICT Grant and inform schools of their progress through the School eLearning Index.

The Index provides schools with a point-in-time overview of school readiness across the four new Smart Classrooms drivers. It may be used as a planning tool to help school leaders identify priority issues that may require targeted strategies.

The Index provides measurable data for schools from year to year to support long term strategic planning.

The Smart Classrooms Planning Cycle enables schools to utilise related information sources to plan for school
improvement across areas identified as future priorities.

This transformation is supporting a change in focus from school outcomes to student outcomes - and enabling personalised learning to become a reality.

Teaching and learning productivity

Smart Classrooms will deliver opportunities to improve teaching and learning productivity through improved access to aligned and complementary learning opportunities, resources and expertise for students and teachers.

Productivity is also increased in the school and classroom through more efficient ways of delivering a new and innovative range of shared services and opportunities for collaboration through targeted professional development and training. This will effectively position Queensland in a knowledge-based economy.

Being green

Through this strategy we will begin to address the sustainable use of ICT in ways that, where possible, reduce the department’s environmental footprint and build knowledge and commitment for a sustainable future. ...

From: 2011-2014 Smart Classrooms strategy, Queensland Department of Education and Training, 2011