This year, Stella Maris Junior School switched over to tablets in a separate initiative from the government.
The aim, Head Master Noel Abela said, was to try and reach all students in a class. Through traditional methods, teachers try and aim for the middle of the group, however this results in those struggling falling further behind and overachievers left twiddling their thumbs. In fact, the project began with all year fives, not just one class.
The programme at Stella Maris Junior School is based on six pillars; Child ownership, Communication, Young ages, Saturation, Open source and Sustainability.
Director Brother David Mizzi explained that the tablet is owned by the student, and there is a reason for this. First off one must note that the parents must buy the tablet through the school, which comes with a warranty etc. The tablet itself is then owned by the child, not the school or the parents.
The cost for parents stands at around €12.88 per month for 3 years, however includes a 3-year warrantee and guarantee, as well as software and other additions. After the payments are complete, the tablet then belongs to the family.
This has resulted in students feeling a sense of ownership. Before, they used to fling their bags everywhere, however now, they are more cautious, more organised. Why? Because they know that there is an expensive piece of equipment in their bag that they themselves own.
What about the practical uses for the tablet in class. The government through their scheme have been stating that tablet use will help students in class and allow for an easier form of learning. Brother David gave an in-depth example of problems teachers used to face, and how this technology can truly help advance the education system.
"Recently, I had to teach a class in the place of a teacher who was absent, and needed to teach creative writing. These were a group of 9-year-olds, so I decided to have them write about a boat journey between Malta and Gozo. Now think about this for a second, there could have been some students who have never been on a boat, or travelled to Gozo, so how would they be able to write such a story. They quickly began to do their own research. Following this I asked them to consider Mgarr being closed off and the use of another landing point is needed. They began to take a look around using maps. One of them became fascinated with the role of a captain, another with stormy seas, and their thoughts began to form and minds race".
"We are not saying that this is the magical answer to solve education problems, but it's a step," he explained.
Safeguards
A number of safeguards are in place, Head Master Noel Abela said that the tablets automatically switch off by 10 am and certain sites are of course blocked. "This has resulted in students completing homework as soon as they return home from school," he said.
"In addition extra security including CCTV cameras were installed, however thankfully we have not had any incidents yet".
The mixed abilities found in schools is where the problem arises. The common entrance exams of the church schools exams and parents would rank what school they would go to. Now this doesn't exist anymore and a ballot system was adopted. This made resulted in a mixed ability classroom environment. We needed something to help reach all students, something to assist students to work at their own pace. Through software available,it helps.
"When I was young we were all measured with the same yardstick, regardless of our ability at that age. In a society where a percentage of children have disability, or come from problematic homes, how can you reach those kids if they feel they can't keep up," Brother David asked.
"It is important to note that that this technology is not replacing teaching methods that exist, but rather assists what is already in place," he explained
With regards to backpack weight, in the short term the bags will be slightly heavier, but looking to the future, hand-outs would no longer be required and a mixture of paper-back and e-books could be used. The same can be said about copybooks and paper pads.
Has the government looked at Stella Maris?
Other schools have also been utilising tablets aside from Stella Maris. When asked whether the Education Ministry looked at Stella Maris prior to the introduction ofits tablet pilot project, the Ministry replied; "We are aware of the project at Stella Maris College, a Church School. However the project at this school was based on netbooks (small laptops) and not tablets. This was an initiative of the school and the Department of eLearning was at no stage involved in it".
"The Department of eLearning implemented a similar project with netbooks (a small laptop with touch screen facility purposely made for use in education) at Birkirkara Primary and St. Albert the Great College (a Church school) almost at the same time".
"The experience of these schools is being taken into consideration for the purpose of the Pilot Project with Tablets even though the technologies are slightly different".
The Education Ministry also said that some schools in Valletta and Pembroke are also utilising Ipads, separate from the pilot programme.
A main concern when launching the project was that students would distance themselves from family members and spend too much time on their netbooks or tablets, however the opposite happened, the Stella Maris Junior School head master said. Curiosity led to both the parents and the students using the technology together. "In addition we are able to use video tutorials to teach, for example, mathematics. The teachers have observed, prior to the project and after, that certain areas resulted in taking much less time to teach then it used to take prior to the implementation of this technology".