![SWAT-ipadlesson[1]](http://blog.mass.gov/odl/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2016/08/SWAT-ipadlesson1-160x82.jpg)
Student Michelle Tremblay helps fellow students with an iPad lesson.
It was tough saying goodbye to the 2016 graduating senior members of S.W.A.T. (Students Working to Advance Technology). I am so grateful for all their contributions to the Algonquin student tech support team. They were instrumental in helping to make the program a huge success and I will miss them. I am confident that the skills they learned from being part of S.W.A.T. are transferable and will help them find success in college and beyond. After being an educator for over twenty years, I am used to these farewells. I am also aware of the importance of using this time of year to reflect. Reflection is so imperative for growth. Hopefully by reflecting I can determine what needs to be done to make our student tech support team the best it can be as well as figuring out how we can better help other schools develop their own similar program.
Reflective practice involves asking yourself a few questions, for example: “What went well and why?”
Reflective practice involves asking yourself a few questions, for example: “What went well and why?” The students involved in the program are the main reason for its success. Their dedication, ability, creativity and professionalism impressed me every day. Their comfort level and passion for technology was always evident. Over the course of 2015-16 school year, we provided help and advice with day-to-day instructional tech support, while also impacting the school and community with some of the bigger projects that we completed. For example, we redesigned the Algonquin Regional High School (ARHS) Program of Studies website by adding testimonial videos to help students choose elective courses for next year. Our crowd-sourced video project “A Day in the Life at Algonquin” promoted school spirit and demonstrated the power of creating a project with the contributions of many.
We assisted the Northborough and Southborough communities by offering tech support nights at local libraries, as well as helping out on a project that will be part of the town of Northborough’s 250th celebration.
We assisted the Northborough and Southborough communities by offering tech support nights at local libraries, as well as helping out on a project that will be part of the town of Northborough’s 250th celebration. S.W.A.T. also established a necessary online presence by hosting a Google Hangout on Air where students shared and recommended classroom technologies that enhanced their learning, and by the creation of our blog. I owe a huge amount of gratitude to Monique Morgan and the Northeast Comprehensive Center (NCC) for their encouragement and help with the advancement of S.W.A.T.
Monique and her team, along with the Office of Digital Learning (ODL) at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, provided tremendous guidance and support for the creation and promotion of our blog, which was greatly appreciated. In addition both ODL and NCC were instrumental in promoting our program by inviting our SWAT Team members to present at the Fall 2016 Curriculum and Instruction Summit.
Reflecting on past practices is also important for establishing goals for the future. That leads me to ask myself another question: “What needs to be done to make improvements for the next school year?”
Reflecting on past practices is also important for establishing goals for the future. That leads me to ask myself another question: “What needs to be done to make improvements for the next school year?” With the help of my school principal and the guidance department I am in the process of enhancing the curriculum for the S.W.A.T. course as well as revamping the process for the selection of students who enroll. In order to recruit new members, we are sending current S.W.A.T. students to the Northborough and Southborough middle schools to give a brief informational talk about S.W.A.T. In addition, I plan to design a survey to send to our school community to get suggestions of ways that S.W.A.T. can better meet the instructional technology needs of our teachers and students. Finally, I hope to make more connections with student tech support teams from other schools to share best practices and possibly work collaboratively on projects. All and all, it has been a productive and successful year and I look forward to what the future has in store for the Algonquin Students Working to Advance Technology team.