Alexandra Learning & Teaching Initiative
ICT in Alexandra College is not an isolated subject. Rather, ICT encompasses the entire curriculum from 1st to 6th year. All teachers and senior students (4th, 5th and 6th year) have Macbooks, classrooms are fitted with data projectors and wireless Internet access is available throughout the College campus. Maths classrooms have interactive white boards. All students and staff in the College have Internet access and an email address. Internet access is fully managed and email is provided through Google Apps for Education.
In 2006/2007, the College started a pilot project in One-to-One learning (the Alexandra Learning and Teaching Initiative, or ALTI). As part of this project, the College funded Apple Macbooks for all 2nd year students. The pilot scheme aimed to integrate technology into the Junior Certificate curriculum and 2nd years carried their laptops into 3rd year in 2007/2008. However, a decision was taken in December 2007 that students and staff would find the One-to-One project to be more beneficial for senior students and laptops were redistributed to Transition Year students.
Following the success of this project in 2007/2008, the project was approved by the College and all Transition Year, 5th year and 6th year students now have laptops.
The College has worked closely with Apple for a number of years and training has been provided for staff by Apple Distinguished Educators (ADEs). The ADE program recognises 2nd and 3rd level professionals possessing an identified expertise in educational technology leadership. In fact, Alexandra College now counts a number of ADEs among its staff in a number of departments including ICT, English, Music and Modern Languages.
College staff and students use Moodle as a teaching and learning platform. All staff and students have access to Moodle, which allows teachers to provide access to notes, exercises and homework which can be accessed from any connected device. Moodle allows staff to create a true One-to-One learning environment for classes as students are enabled to work at their own pace and to extend their knowledge independently outside of the classroom.
College Database
The College database allows parents and guardians to have full, transparent access to their daughters’ school records. Using this website, parents and guardians can view class records, absenteeism information, book lists, the College calendar and all student reports. As of September 2008, all reports are completed by teachers and accessed by parents online. As well as providing a more efficient reporting process, this has also improved the College’s green credentials – an issue of great interest to both students and staff.
The College and ICT
Alexandra College has four computer labs. The main computer lab contains 32 iMacs with Windows XP dual boot. Most ICT classes take place in this room. The College Library has 14 iMacs, the Videography room has eight iMacs and the Science computer lab has 14 PCs with Windows XP.
For more information on ICT classes, please see the ICT section
Contact the IT Department