A valuable experience for Oonoonba teacher

Townsville teacher Trish Lonergan has taken a massive journey and didn't even have to leave her classroom to do it.

The Oonoonba State School teacher received her ICT Pedagogical Licence in Term 4, 2008, but at the beginning of 2009 she claimed to have little computer savvy at all.

Trish says the secret to her success was making contact with people who can support you.

'The best thing I can recommend to any teacher starting out on their ICT journey, or working towards their Licence, is to make and use as many contacts as possible, including taking up all professional development opportunities.

'I could not tell you how many phone calls went backwards and forward between me and my Smart Classrooms Mentor Julianne Cervellin and I also had two other people reviewing my Licence portfolio which was just invaluable.'

Trish initially worked on her Licence portfolio during the school holidays and says it was then a case of sharing her work with her reviewers to get feedback and ideas about how to improve it.

She agrees with most teachers that actually writing the portfolio requirements was the hardest part of the process.

'I really had to work on getting the right words to articulate what I was doing and what I believe in. It's been more than a decade since I was at university and had to put pen to paper in this way.

'But once I started to get into it I found it such a valuable experience because it actually made me take a good hard look at my beliefs and define what they were.

'I knew I had all the work there, I just had to pull it together into my portfolio. It was a way of showcasing what I do in my job, even if it was just showcasing it to me - and I enjoyed the challenge.'

Trish says planning in advance for her Licence also worked well for her.

'I knew before Term 2 that I would apply for my Licence towards the end of the year, so I made a point of recording everything I was doing and kept a track of everything for my portfolio.'

And it's onwards and upwards in 2009, with Trish encouraging other teachers in her school to get onboard and start working towards either their ICT Certificate or ICT Pedagogical Licence.

'At the start of last year I wasn't computer savvy at all. My journey during 2008 was huge; I started with learning the basics and ended up getting my ICT Pedagogical Licence. I have a lot of personal and professional pride since achieving my Licence.'