Phone: (808) 455-3012
Email: office@olgcchurchpc.org
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November 20, 2017“Let’s go and invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what happened yesterday” Steve Jobs. Regardless which profession our students choose, technology will be involved. This revolution is here to stay, and at OLGC School, we are training our students to be proficient, forward thinking and ethical users of information technology.
Thanks to the continued support of our OLGC parishioners, 61 Chromebook devices and 16 teacher laptops were purchased at the beginning of this school year. Teachers now have the devices necessary to connect quickly to Promethean Boards, grade assignments on Google Classrooms and correspond quickly and securely with parents and students regarding academic and social progress. As our lives get busier, this improvement in communication assists all partners in the education of our students.
Grade Five through Eight students have each been issued with their own Chromebook device for use during the school day. Each student has been set up with a Google account, linking to a series of applications that aid learning. This means, once the Chromebook is closed at school, education can continue at home by logging in and accessing work saved in a virtual “Drive”. Teachers can grade and offer feedback to students electronically, thus reducing paper waste and additional resources.
The curriculum for students when using technology covers four broad areas: Digital Citizenship, Business Information Technology, Digital Media and Coding (computer programming). Our goal is to develop global citizens who are able to think critically about social media, explore online resources analytically and become computational thinkers and creators. We could not have embarked on this without the generous assistance of our Parish community.
Regardless of which high school our Eighth Grade students attend next year, proficiency in each of these areas will be required. We are confident they will be able to join their peers with the knowledge and skills to be competitive in the secondary environment. A few comments from these students about why they like the Chromebooks include:
“The thing that I like the most about the Chromebooks is that it is organized. When I use the Chromebooks it’s much easier than paper. When I use paper I always end up losing it.” Asialyn Lee
“I like that it will automatically save the document without us having to do it manually.” Carolyn Carter
“I love the Chrome books that we were supplied, because I am able to access all my work I’ve done at home or at school anywhere and at any time.” Keira Cachola
“One thing I like about the chrome books, is that you can do homework in school instead of waiting to go home.” Nathan Bonnell
We thank our OLGC parishioners for their generous support of our academic endeavours. As we embrace these changes and educate for a global society, we remember the words of our Holy Father: “It is not technology which determines whether or not communication is authentic, but rather the human heart and our capacity to use wisely the means at our disposal.” Pope Francis.