New Providence, Bahamas - When grade six
Bahamian students are discussing how to get mobile devices into the hands of
school age children across The Bahamas the impact of a school with a
strong Information and Communications Technology (ICT) curriculum becomes
apparent. An 11 year old student will be leading a discussion with
attendees at the upcoming Nassau Educational Technology Conference (NET.2) at
Lyford Cay International School (LCIS) with the topic “Why One Device Per Child
is Important and How to Make it Happen”. The student will be introducing
affordable digital educational tools to the 400 educators in attendance as she
shares her own personal experience as a “one-to-one student” at LCIS.
In Spring 2007,
thanks to the support of generous donors, LCIS took the bold step to launch a
new technology platform. The platform provided LCIS with pervasive levels of
technology, professional development, and resources to meet the needs of
students and teachers living in a digital society. Thus began a journey in
technology, which has seen LCIS become a leader in educational technology in
the Caribbean. Today, the school’s campus network boasts 99.9% uptime and some
of the fastest Internet speeds available in the Bahamas. LCIS has made
significant investment in ICT and has integrated technology into the curriculum
at every level. There is a dedicated ICT Instructor for each of the Early
Learning Center, the Elementary School and the Secondary School. These
instructors work collaboratively with teachers and students to enrich
traditional content by infusing ICT wherever appropriate.
At LCIS the ICT
Program is innovative and impactful because of careful strategic planning. The
school utilizes software that inspires, automates, teaches, and makes both
students and teachers more efficient. “We are fortunate here at LCIS to have an
informed and supportive leadership, and a diligent technology team to keep
everything running efficiently while keeping an eye on the ever-changing future
landscape of instructional technology,” said Director of Technology, Mrs Mindy
Brinson. “We have built a team that includes a responsive Help Desk, Internet
savvy media specialists (Librarians), tech lead teachers, numerous specialized
vendors, and a variety of engineers and technicians,” she added.
LCIS teachers
attend and present ICT topics at professional conferences around the world. On
June 20, LCIS will, once again, present the premiere annual technology event in
The Bahamas, the NET.2 Conference. The NET.2 Conference brings together
educators for a full day of sharing ideas and resources all at no charge to
educators. The conference will also help launch the school’s new Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiative, as 18 exceptional LCIS
students will present their STEM projects to the public.
LCIS provides a
full spectrum of the best available software and subscription based tools to
create, analyze, present, share and collaborate. Students maintain online
portfolios, collaborate daily with peers and professionals around the world,
research careers and colleges with Naviance, a college counseling program, take
online courses at prominent universities, check out library books and
periodicals, and perform scientific research and data collection using iPads
and GoPro cameras. LCIS students now repair broken electronics, build
interactive whiteboards, develop IOS apps, design websites, build robots, code
programs, write databases, learn Computer Aided Design (CAD), develop green
solutions, create digital art, photography, music and video as part of their
every day school experience.
At LCIS,
students, parents, and teachers are inextricably connected to the rest of the
world thanks to monumental ICT investments at the school. Today, technology
plays a vital role at LCIS and will continue to evolve as global trends emerge.