Emmaus College considers educational technologies to be a fundamental component of learning and teaching.

Uses of ICT in the Classroom:

EmmLink

EmmLink is our Learning Management System, Portal & Intranet powered by Schoolbox.

What is an LMS?
An LMS is an online space (portal/intranet) where educational content of all types are collected, organised and managed to create an enriched learning environment.

Emmlink enables parents/guardians and students to view many aspects of the college’s operations, for example, student timetables, school events, due dates and college news.

Emmlink enables easier communication with teachers and facilitates timely feedback for students and parents regarding assessment tasks.

Continuous Reporting 

The Emmlink platform delivers continuous reporting throughout the year. As assessments are submitted by students, teachers will assess and comment as soon as possible. Comments and results are made available to students and parents/guardians.

This method of reporting keeps parents/guardians informed of how their child is performing throughout the year. It fosters helpful conversations about learning, study techniques and ways to improve in future assessments and learning tasks.

Podcasting 

In the Web 2.0 age, technology allows for information giving and sharing beyond text. There will always be a place for essays and research papers, but podcasting allows for students to interact online in a ‘virtual classroom’ style environment. Using inbuilt microphones and appropriate applications, students can share their views and explain their responses in various formats.

The Power of Online Video

To further enhance podcasting, movie-making is yet another simple and effective way of communicating thoughts and ideas in an online environment.

Students can also access instructional videos, with sites like YouTube and Khan Academy. The internet has a wide range of useful teaching and learning resources delivered in a video format that is freely accessible by all.
Teachers may use a “flipped classroom” approach to teaching which utilizes video to explain main concepts. The power of this approach is that students can go over the explanations more than once until the concepts become clear. Classes can then concentrate on application and deeper learning rather than repeating content.

Blogging/Forums

Blogging and forum discussions are a great way to encourage further discussions, document ideas as well as enhance collaboration between groups of students and teachers. A major advantage of this includes being able to access and contribute from anywhere at any time. (Examples of these tools are Edublogs & Edmodo)

Interactive Learning Apps

Subject-specific applications that enhance learning are endless. The ability to learn new concepts easily and receive instant feedback from drill and practice exercises provides for student engagement.

Sharing of Online Links and Resources

Working in a collaborative environment requires immediate access to ideas, sites and resources. Can’t meet with your group to research or discuss ideas on an assignment? You can now share files, bookmarks and resources online which means information is always available and easy to access. (Delicious, Digg, Twitter, Links to Library resources including catalogue and online databases)

Wikis

Wikis are the electronic version of the traditional poster/cardboard assignment. Essentially, a wiki is a website that allows collaborative editing of its content and structure by its users. (Wikispaces)

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to mobile ICT devices on demand. The main focus of this type of computing is that all activity & storage occurs “in the cloud”. All Web 2.0 activities like creating mind maps, posters, word clouds, cartoons, avatars, and drawings all use “Cloud computing” servers for storage. Examples of these are, Voicethread, Slideshare and Prezi.

Access to Images that are Supported by the Creative Commons/NEALS Copyright

There are many websites that offer large repositories of images that could be used in student and staff work. Creative Commons and Neals copyright allows the use of images on some online services such as Flickr and Photobucket for educational or non-commercial use.