ICT INSTITUTE: ITEM - ACCREDITING TECHNOLOGY IN YOUR SCHOOL, 18 NOV, NICE

The International Educators' ICT Institute is an annual workshop event organised with the co-operation of ECIS and coinciding with their Annual Conference each year. Run on the day before the conference starts, it provides an extremely cost effective way to provide your staff with ICT professional development in addition to the conference itself. This year's institute is aimed at Strategic Leaders and ICT Directors / Co-ordinators.

ITEM: Accrediting Technology in your School, 18th Nov, Nice

This institute looks at the International Technology in Education Mark, a new whole-school Technology accreditation for International Schools offered by Naace, the professional association for educators interested in advancing education through ICT, and an ISTE affiliate.

ITEM uses a self-review process pioneered by a number of national schemes in Europe, and integrates this with the new ISTE NETS standards to produce a unique accreditation scheme suitable for international schools. It enables schools to self-review their ICT provision across all areas of the school by setting out a structure of elements, strands and aspects to facilitate self-evaluation, benchmarking and action planning.

The eight elements (main areas of evaluation) are:

• Leadership and Vision


• Learning Experiences


• Planning, Assessment & Evaluation


• Work and Learning


• Digital Citizenship


• Professional Growth and Practice


• Innovation and Creativity


• Resources

This institute is designed for strategic leaders and ICT Directors / Co-ordinators looking for a coherent scheme for school improvement through ICT which recognises both present achievements and provides a route-map through to accreditation. The session will enable delegates to begin that process by benchmarking their school against the ITEM criteria and discussing next steps.

During the institute delegates will be expected to reflect and contribute through a virtual learning environment to model effective blended learning techniques. For this reason, you are expected to bring a wireless enabled laptop for the day.

Cost

The ITEM framework is free to schools but unfortunately a charge of £135 has to be made for the institute to cover costs incurred by the venue. Schools will also be introduced to an online tool during the session, and should they wish to continue using it following the institute a free trial period will be provided.

Image credit: Jacek.NL under Creative Commons Licence