Ayesha Mahapatra
Hi EdTech Team, please introduce yourself to our readers.
We are the Educational Technology – or EdTech in short – Team at GESS. Please do not mistake us for IT Department!
We are a cross-sectional team with Agisa responsible for Preschool, Ayesha and Irene responsible for Primary in both sections, and Iulius and Jan covering Secondary in both sections. Our team is headed by Academic Director Joram Hutchins, who oversees the whole school academically.
We are one of the many examples how GESS can be: different backgrounds, different responsibilities, coordinating the different needs of all sections, but all working towards the same goal!
What is your mission and goal here at GESS?
Our goal is to enhance teaching and learning with technology in a meaningful way. Technology, after all, is a tool in this digital age, and we try our best to ensure students are more than well equipped to make the best use of it for their present and future, with all the skills and potential they can harness.
This includes not only finding and setting up all the apps and tools you like to work with, but also the didactics and curricula regarding media and technology in class.
This may sound complex, but essentially, our students are at the heart of what we do.
That sounds like useful skills for our students. What are your key tasks on a daily basis?
We aim to make GESS a school that utilizes tech to its fullest potential, in regard to teaching and learning, involving:
• Being constantly in the process of researching for models and didactics that help us understand how tech influences learning – positively or not.
• Liaising with our teachers on a regular basis to introduce, coach and integrate technology into their classroom in a meaningful and sustainable way.
• Developing networks with other educators and schools, so that we may enhance our own learning. This involves visiting conferences, attending webinars, meetings with academic and tech directors, and of course meeting our tech-enthusiastic teaching staff.
• Visiting classes when teachers are trying something new or introducing technology that needs a bit more support.
• Maintaining and reviewing the technology we have and how we use it in class. Technology is a constantly shifting landscape and we make sure we keep ourselves and our equipment up to date.
• Providing assistance with all the little tech issues – working alongside our IT Team who knows their stuff too!
How are you supporting students and teachers in their learning journey/ teaching job?
First, we listen. We listen to teachers and to students what they want and how we can help.
Depending on their goals, we help them develop a structure they can build their path on.
This can be a teacher who wants to enhance a unit on storytelling with different media and seeks advice on what technology to use. We will then align this idea with the curricula, assess the tech we have or research for alternatives, and help that teacher in the first year of introduction. After evaluating the unit, we encourage the teacher to be a best-practice example and multiply his/her idea so that it persists even after that teacher leaves GESS.
Another example could be supporting a student who wants to take over responsibility and be a tech guide for others.
This student could join the TechTreeCommittee (TTC) where we help students organise themselves and show them how to use our tech in school – and sometimes they are the ones showing us new ways!
Younger students are also warmly invited to share their know-how. For example, they can take part in the digital coffee morning and present their work there.
How does a typical day as an EdTech Coach look like?
There is no such thing as a “normal day in the office” for us. However, most of us start early in the morning before period 1 – either in the EdTech office E404 or in our homerooms. Usually a lot of emails, requests, meetings and teaching form the structure of our days in advance, and after a quick team briefing and update, we are off on our missions at all sections to support teachers and students.
Sometimes, when we have special events like Digital Citizenship Week, Hour of Code or others, we have planning meetings, help one other set up what is needed, and are onsite to conduct the events.
What are the main events that you are conducting throughout the year?
We conduct some digital coffee mornings, an event we hold for parents regularly every year. On a frequent basis, there is Hour of Code where students get to engage in the concepts of computational thinking. We also support other school events in partnership with the School Counselling Team such as Pink Shirt Day or Internet Safety Day.
Please describe Digital Citizenship in one sentence.
Digital Citizenship is the ability to navigate the digital world safely and responsibly, and to actively and respectfully engage in these spaces.
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