Technology @ Saltus

Mission Statement

At Saltus, technology is essential in our learning, our teaching, our communication and in our administration. Its use allows us to build a strong and nurturing community which meets the unique needs, capabilities and desires of our students.

As a learning tool, technology allows our students to explore elusive concepts, to receive feedback and to discuss and to investigate in a dynamic and relevant medium. Furthermore, those who might otherwise experience uncertainties with mechanical processes or who have learning differences can be more readily accommodated. Technology allows our students to display their own knowledge more readily and more effectively; this allows our teachers to gain an insight into their student’s learning.

As a teaching tool, technology allows our teachers to deliver their message in a dynamic and exciting manner. Concepts and ideas may be shared in more concrete and engaging ways. In the same way that the technology allows our students to show what they know, so our teachers may represent their message more effectively.

As a communication tool, technology offers an unprecedented medium for the exchange of ideas and information among every member of our school community. Alumni, trustees, school staff, faculty, administration, parents and students share information within the school across the island of Bermuda and, despite our geographical location, we are able to reach out to fellow students and faculty in the global community.

As an administrative tool, technology allows us to perform the multitude of tasks that serve the needs of our school’s membership. The collection, collation and review of data allow us to know our students more comprehensively and to serve their individual needs more appropriately. The data can be shared with faculty and parents alike and we build the partnership which supports and sustains good learning.

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Blackboard@Saltus

Having identified the advantage of information access from the Internet, it was also recognized that this was not the limit of our information access revolution.

With this “powerful, amazing tool”, students are offered educational services that were never thought of in the past and for the laptop program to succeed it has been ensured that the technology is available for the students to take full advantage of these opportunities.

The introduction of the Blackboard Course Management System allows the students, staff and parents access to school/departmental resources and reference material over the Internet. Envisage three possible scenarios:

• A student will be able to attend their classes during the day and, if needed, log into Blackboard at night to retrieve worksheets, video clips, interactive activities, or any other resources that may have been used in class.
• A student who is away from school for medical or personal reasons will be able to access the information and resources for a class from anywhere in the world using Blackboard, ensuring that they never fall behind in their studies.
• A student who misses classes for sporting commitments will be able to access information as above, and thus their extra curricular commitment to the school will not hamper their education.

The Internet and Education

Due to the large amount of information on the World Wide Web, there are untold benefits of being able to efficiently access and process data in new ways. There is an enormous and varied set of resources to supplement and update textbooks, reference books, and other print resources used in and in support of regular classroom work.

Soon, information resources that are easily available through networked computers will be as indispensable as information available through newspapers, books and television has been to previous generations. Online magazines, newspapers, academic and organizational research papers, and discussion group archives are legitimate resources for research papers, homework assignments, data research and retrieval, and background reading around a topic. All of these resources should be of unquestioned value in the curriculum.

One of the most important criteria to factor into the integration of the internet is the way in which the materials are presented to the students. Management of the implementation into and use of the Internet in the classroom setting is critical, as is the analysis of the relevance of a particular website or the use of the Internet in any given context in the first place.

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Organizational Tools and Strategies

The use of a laptop program, supported by Microsoft™ Outlook™ and Blackboard, has the potential to produce an environment where the students have anytime, anywhere access to the resources and communication tools which will enhance their learning experience immeasurably.

The utilization of MS Outlook through our Microsoft Exchange Server and Blackboard  through its Course Management Server can facilitate the access of information (lesson plans, resources, homework, hyperlinks to external websites) by students within school or from home. This will allow the students to look at their day’s calendar and assess what work is required, when it is due, and even submit the homework online while lying on their bed.

Using course management and organizational tools such as these allows staff and students to focus on the main aim of the classroom (learning), and also assists students who may be more organizationally challenged. Students who often underachieve due to their lack of ability to record assignments will be given a helping hand by having assignments, and homework clearly recorded for them together with all classroom lecture notes and other resources required to complete required tasks.

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The Help Desk

Our Help Desk is the first point of approach for both students and the staff when experiencing either computer software or hardware related problems within the school. The ‘Desk’ is operated by the Systems Department and is manned by Melinda Frith and Ormond Hodgson. The ‘Desk’ supports almost eight hundred users and almost 1000 systems school-wide.

When a student visits the Help Desk with a software or hardware related problem, they will be asked to give a detailed account of the problem and the matter will be logged by the technical staff. In some cases, the technical staff can solve the matter immediately; in the event that the computer has to be sent for service by Bermuda Micro-Systems Ltd., the student will be advised and, providing that there are ‘loaner’ machines available, he/she will be issued with a computer for the period that their own machine is out for service.

Parents may check the status of the work order request by accessing the ‘Track-It’ reporting system via TechWeb on the school’s website www.saltus.bm. TechWeb will also allow parents and students to receive systems related messages and also to search a solutions database to assist with basic troubleshooting. The content of this database will be loaded over the forthcoming months. Note: Parents will need to use student network usernames and passwords to gain access.

To access TechWeb, students will need to input the following information: -

The Help Desk is located immediately opposite the central main entry door of the Senior Department on the lower verandah and is open from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on a daily basis. There may be occasions when both of the support staff are working elsewhere in the school and at such times the desk will not be open. The technical staff can be contacted using the following email address helpdesk@saltus.bm or by telephone on 292-0743.

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The Acceptable Use Policy & other Documents of Interest

The following documents are of critical importance the successful use of technology within Saltus Grammar School .  They outline the acceptable use of computers within the framework of the school network, as well as the some materials supporting the fundamental principles of the laptop program and the e-life policies that have been developed.

To view some files you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.  You Can download the installation file here.

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