School integrates use of iPad in classroom

IN its quest to adopt technologically advanced school in Africa, the Chairman, Board of Governors of Olashore International School, Prince Bimbo Olashore, has unfolded plans to deploy iPads in classrooms.

Speaking at the 2015 Apple iPad Summit organized by Core Group Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa, Olashore said that Nigeria cannot also wait for technology transfer any more but needs to do something about being competitive with the rest of the world, hence his school took the path it has taken to empower teachers and students technologically.

“We have to leapfrog to catch up and get our young Nigerians prepared for the new technology driven world. We are pleased to be making substantial investment in this direction,” he said.

The iPads in Classrooms programme is expected to be achieved by setting up Local Area Network (LAN) distribution in classrooms and hostels, wireless distribution, indoor wireless device with high frequency, and firewalls to manage internet access on the iPad.

In addition, Prince Olashore, expressed that they have plans to deploy audio and visual multimedia systems in the classrooms that will support the iPad integration, Learning Management System (LMS) that will not use the Internet and a Mac Server for Mobile Device Management to manage the iPads. 

Equally speaking, the school Principal, Derek Smith also said that Olashore International will also review its overall technology framework, through a curriculum mapping program, faster internet connection, a new mobile device management (MDM) to check unproductive online presence. 

“It will also make professional development for teachers mandatory, constant and purposeful, and finally, reinforce Students’ responsibility in taking charge of their lives,” he said.

The Apple Summit was aimed at running a successful students’ centered classroom, integrating technology in the class for differentiation, putting learning at the center of the class not the technology, enabling a successful flipping of classroom, maximizing the learning time rather than the teaching time, encouraging collaborative learning system as well as making learning more experiential and interactive for the students.