INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
Berkeley's cutting edge IT program introduces coding to our youngest students, brings technology resources right into the classroom for projects and study, and pushes our students to create educational and artistic content both inside and outside of the classroom.
Berkeley's technology program features:
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Two computer labs
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A BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program from grade 6
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An iPad program for kindergarten and elementary students
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Student tablets/laptops in all kindergarten and elementary classrooms
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A kindergarten program where students use robots to learn basic programming, games to simulate technological challenges, a green screen to create films and much much more
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AV capabilities for all teachers
USING TECHNOLOGY WITH OUR YOUNGER STUDENTS
Our focus with our younger students is technology exposure, to give them the foundational skills necessary to make best use of technology in later years, and to introduce them to the basic concepts of programming. Our kindergarten students have access to desktop computers, iPads, games, a green screen and programmable robots. These robots allow us to introduce our younger students to basic coding concepts such as sequential logic and command functions, and these concepts give them the basic toolkit necessary to excel in a wide variety of overlapping subjects.
Learning these concepts and techniques is becoming increasingly important as students in later years are expected to know, understand and be proficient in high level languages like Microsoft Excel, and are already needing to be proficient in lower level languages like HTML, Javascript, PHP, Perl and C. The earlier students can master these concepts the more successful they will be in later years, and Berkeley has designed its technology program with this at heart.
USING TECHNOLOGY WITH OUR OLDER STUDENTS
Our emphasis with our older students is to integrate technology into the classrooms, to teach our students how technology can be used to aid them in their studies and projects, to connect students and teachers inside and outside of the classroom, and to use technology to aid in educational and artistic projects. Our elementary students have access to computers in their classrooms, and our middle and high school students are required to bring laptops to class for our BYOD program.
Our BYOD program allows our students to have access to digital content, educational software, and digital authoring tools both inside and outside of the classroom. This level of integration is highly beneficial, it gives students access to the resources of the web at all times, and coupling this access with guidance in the classroom from a teacher provides students with the tools and information they need, at the right time, in the right context.
Our state of the art main computer lab is fitted with powerful computers with large HD screens. This is primarily a content creation and coding lab, where students learn to manipulate, create and animate images and videos with industry standard software, and to code websites and programs.
