Immigrants benefit from digital pedagogy

A Woodridge State School teacher is going to great lengths to ensure her students get the most from their time in the classroom.

With three-quarters of the school's population from non-English speaking homes, Belinda Johnston has embraced digital pedagogy - a concept that enhances her teaching practices and helps all students learn.

'For these children, English is not their first language and as a teacher it's my responsibility to find another way of communicating with and engaging them in the learning,' said the Year 7 teacher.

'All students, no matter where they are from deserve to have every opportunity to achieve.

'It's up to the classroom teacher to provide his/her students with a diverse range of learning experiences that will enable them to actively participate in the classrooms.

Miss Johnston was recently awarded her Digital Pedagogy Licence, after spending a few years with her ICT Certificate.

This initiative is of great benefit to the 30 per cent of children who are illiterate in their own language, and have not attended school before arriving in Australia.

'With so many children having access to the latest ICT at home, the best way to do this is to use visual aids.'

'Since the introduction of ICT, I have even found that productivity has increased - they are even still going after 2.45pm.'

Following the curriculum laid down by Education Queensland, Miss Johnston's lessons generally involve the use of digital cameras, computers, project rooms and Virtual Classrooms.

Even the traditional "pen and paper" test, generally followed by most schools, has been altered to incorporate ICT.

'Because some of the students struggle with reading and writing, I sometimes get them to explain their answers with photos or by using the Smartboard,' said Miss Johnston.

'This gives the refugee children in my class a chance to understand what I am teaching them and be engaged by what they are learning.

'Without the use of ICT, this is incredibly challenging for students who do not have a grip of the language that their teacher is using.

'Teaching isn't about finding a way to engage a majority of students, but rather engaging all of them.'