Jessica Brooker:

Welcome to Thurgoona Public School. My name is Jessica Brooker. I'm the principal at our wonderful school. We're located in Albury, which is in southern NSW. One of the biggest key differences in this technology rollout was that it came with that staffing allocation. So it came with a person who was responsible for driving the uplift. Not just in building the capacity of staff to use the technology for their own programming, their own teacher use, but then building the capacity and the confidence of staff to put technology into their classroom, into their teaching practice.

Kristen Hiebl:

So moving to digital programming has been a huge gain for our school and for the teachers. So we're finding in rooms like our kindergarten classroom, the teachers are using their Rural Access Gap laptop that was provided to them, they are mirroring it straight onto their screens. They might have their PowerPoints for the new units of work in there and they're annotating straight onto them. They're using their digital pens that came with it to click through the slides.

The new laptops integrating with the new mobile learning devices or the mini PCs that have been provided through RAG have definitely changed the way our Stage 1 teachers are teaching programming, recording their assessments.

Jessica Brooker:

From the beginning of the program, we identified quite early that a school our size and from where we were prior in terms of the limited technology that we had and the limited expertise that we had, we knew that then there was a need to school fund or school support, an increase of a day with Kristen's role. So we did that very early on so that we could make sure that we supported as many of our staff as we could as consistently as we could.

Kristen Hiebl:

There was a lot of trial and error with digital programming. The regular weekly mentor sessions with the digital learning advisors were the key to the whole project. It wouldn't have sustained for the 12 months without them because it just keeps the momentum going, it keeps the ideas fresh. It's a good way of passing on what the current trends are or anything new that's coming up.

Jessica Brooker:

I certainly think that where we are now is going to need to continue to be supported. We want to continue to grow in terms of the staff capacity to use technology, but also for our students what's coming in terms of how technology changes and how our kids are engaging with that.

It's so important that our staff are at the top of that. And the only way that's gonna happen from a school perspective, I believe, is if we continue to invest in a Digital Classroom Officer position. Moving forward and through our reflections in the back half of this year, we're certainly going to see that role is going to need to continue to be in place at a school level, even if it means that it's school funded in some type of way, but in order to ensure that where we are now we don't just stagnate, that we continue to grow and build on the remarkable things that we've already achieved.

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Lincoln McBroom:

As a Digital Classroom Officer, my role is to support teachers in embedding STEM and IT resources authentically within curriculum areas as well as to support them in relation to workflow and working efficiently, working well collaborating as teams to improve learning in a school environment.

Penelope Zell:

I really see it as though you're like the middle man between the department and all this amazing tech knowledge and resources and the school.

Amy Brown:

I'd describe the role as finding and implementing the technology needs of the school and staff helping up-skill staff to feel comfortable to use it within the classroom and within their general programming and planning.

Tim Cassell:

You don't need to be someone who is okay with all components of ICT and digital technologies. You just need to be willing to play with it and trial it yourself and therefore coach other people from what you've learned.

Hailee Fidock:

It's a very diverse role, so it's from rolling out technology devices to giving support in the classroom, as well as running quick bite sessions in the morning.

Scott Sampson:

My role as a Digital Classroom Officer has been one of guidance with a lot of staff.

Jacob Sandry:

The buy-in that I've had from some teachers has been a really big success. Teachers are coming to me now and going "oh I did this and it worked really well!" and then "Oh that's great, what can we do next, and how can we use that somewhere else" so that's been really good.

Beverley Nancarrow:

The Digital Classroom Officer role will just open up so much more, and time to really help train and support the teachers more so it won't just be about infrastructure.

I'm looking forward to the actual implementation and the improvement of technology use right across the school.

Hailee Fidock:

I think one of the best pieces of advice I could give to somebody who's taking on this role is that you're not expected to be an expert, you are learning.

You're on this learning journey with your staff.

Penelope Zell:

For someone that was taking on this role in another school, I would strongly encourage them to learn as much as they can like take advantage of what's on offer.

There are all these amazing resources and the mentorship and no one makes you feel dumb which is really wonderful, and really use that DCO time to learn how to make the technology learning authentic in the classroom.

Lincoln McBroom:

My advice for any DCO coming into this role in future is go for it. Jump in the deep end, be scared of nothing because there's heaps of support from mentors, the network of DCOs, the resourcing is there in regards to curriculum and project planning. The T4L library is vast and there are lots of great people who are happy to get on board and help you.

You don't need to have a high-end skill level in IT or STEM to do a DCO role well.

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