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Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ronald Jones (left) presenting Valedictorian and top student in the Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Leadership, Michael Toppin with his certificate at the Erdiston Teachers’ Training College Graduation on Saturday night at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC).

Technology overhaul

 

By Patricia Thangaraj
 
There will be a technology overhaul in this island of Barbados at all of the educational institutions that are registered with the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.
 
Word of this comes from Education Minister Ronald Jones, who delivered the feature address at the Erdiston Teachers’ Training College Graduation on Saturday night at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC).
 
He said that this will include primary schools, secondary schools and tertiary institutions, whether they be government-run or privately owned.
 
“Across every school… Erdiston College, SJPP, BCC, every school including the private schools – everyone once they are registered with us – we will be completely redeploying technology across every one of these schools. From tablets, laptops and desk tops. Everybody!
 
He continued: “My challenge to you is to take care of them, use them well. They are a gift to Barbados as a result of our 50th anniversary. So they would be deployed right across the system. They are not to be kept at home. They are to be used in the schools by yourselves and the students.”
 
However, Jones was also quick to inform the teachers that it is not the technology that helps a student to learn better and to grasp the information more quickly or efficiently, but rather how that teacher teaches the subject to the students in the class and the attitude that they have while teaching the young minds under their care.
 
“But let me say that technology does not make you learn. It is what you bring to your students. Do you love your subject? Are you enthusiastic about teaching? The child in your class that is difficult and would not learn is the one who learns from the best,” he said.
 
He added that students have a way of understanding things that even adults cannot and he cited the example of dub artists, stating that these young minds can understand what these artists are trying to say in their lyrics, mainly because it is something that they are interested in and as a result, teachers also have to find ways of making the subject matter interesting so that the students would want to learn the material.
 
“To learn, you have to vibrate. The brain has to vibrate to learn and to bring it on board. So if you walk into the classroom as though, ‘I don’t want to be here’, children feel it and say, ‘We don’t want you here’ and therefore, teachers need to continuously seek out the best ways in which they can teach the curriculum.

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