The Triannual Newsletter

Mission Statement - Enhanced Opportunities for Technological Innovation

Volume 11, Issue 1, December, 2021

Head of School Message

Dr Brian Brumsickle, Head of School, Stonehill International School, Bangalore

Greetings!

Welcome to our first Triannual Newsletter for the academic year 2021 - 2022.

The theme for the Triannual Newsletters will be based on Stonehill’s Guiding Statements as mentioned below.

The Newsletters will be divided into three editions, with a focus on technological innovation, sports and the arts.

Stonehill's Guiding Statements

Vision

We are an internationally-minded community of spirited learners, dedicated to the development of knowledgeable, caring, confident and responsible global citizens.

Mission

Our mission is to provide stimulating, engaging academics integrated with enhanced opportunities for technological innovation, sports and the arts.

In keeping with Stonehill’s Vision and Mission, the first newsletter will look at how Stonehill’s curriculum is integrated with enhanced opportunities for technological innovation, dedicated to the development of knowledgeable, caring, confident and responsible global citizens.

Let’s explore how Stonehill’s guiding statements are incorporated into teaching and learning across PYP, MYP, DP and Boarding at Stonehill.

Sincerely,

Dr. Brian Brumsickle

Head of School

Perspectives from the Primary School

Principal Primary Years, Stonehill International School, Bangalore

During our nearly twenty months away from the campus, both the learners and the teachers were exposed to levels of technology that they had never experienced before.

They learned to use onscreen tools to achieve some of the collaborative strategies that we use in person - Mentimeter and Padlet to mention two.EPIC books and A-Z gave us access to reading material for instructional and recreational reading purposes.

Book Creator gave us opportunities to take our writing and publish it in a format that thrilled others. Mathletics, Youcubed and Khan Academy gave us opportunities to practice mental and inquiry-based mathematical skills.

In addition, we learned that Google Classroom has so much more to offer. Hangouts and Meets came in handy if we wanted a quick chat with each other; be that a learner stuck with an asynchronous task or a principal needing a quick answer from a colleague. Forms became our go-to feedback mode. Slides and screencasting gave learners opportunities to learn at their own rate.

Zoom was, of course, our video instructional tool but its associated tools enthralled learners and gave teachers opportunities to see the learning taking place - reading the chat, responding to the chat, emoji conversations, monitoring of connections and the recordings that we could share with learners who needed more time to understand a concept or with the learner who was sick.

Each and every tool had value to the online context. Our challenge is to utilise these successful tools in our face-to-face environment whilst rebuilding the interpersonal skills we value so much at the Primary level of schooling.

Over the past few weeks, I have noticed big sheets of paper with collective thinking appearing in classrooms but I have also seen our learners contribute to Padlet whilst at home so their learning can continue when they are next in school. I have seen learners Zoom in from home to create a whole class structure in the physical classroom.

I have watched teaching assistants working one-on-one on-screen with a child still at home who needs extra support.

It is an exciting time to have a mission statement that focuses on innovative technology use. The Primary School takes our Mission seriously as we prepare our learners for the 21st century and beyond.

Karen Crooke

Primary Years Programme (PYP) Focus

Technology plays a key role in our inquiry-based programme. In the Primary School, we apply technology to facilitate and extend learning, and we adapt innovative ways to find solutions to challenges.

Over the last twenty months, our learners and teachers have embraced challenges and celebrated triumphs.

Discovery Week is our commitment to providing enhanced opportunities for our learners to express their creativity using coding, digital technology and critical thinking skills to create, design and innovate

When we moved online, we knew we had to deliver Discovery Week. We had a strong collaborative environment, so we were able to meet and plan in a digital landscape. Our commitment to personalised learning helped drive the discussions. During Discovery Week, our learners had access to a plethora of learning experiences. Equipped with natural curiosity and demonstrating a growth mindset, they discovered new information, created new understandings, and shared their ideas through various platforms.

Going further, we have seen new directions for Arts and Host Culture Week and a more holistic Primary Literacy Festival established due to continuous reflection. We continue to ideate, offering enhanced opportunities for technological innovations and experiences for our learners to build conceptual understandings, inside and outside the programme of inquiry.

For me, some of the most compelling technology-related lessons from the pandemic involved the improvised digital practices that have helped teachers, students, and parents ‘get through school at home’.

David Towse

Whole School Technology Coordinator

PYP Coordinator

Technological Innovation Enhances Collaborative Processes

Primary school at Stonehill commits to and supports collaboration to improve transdisciplinary learning experiences and student outcomes.

Teachers collaborate within and beyond grade level teams about learning that takes place both inside and outside of the programme of inquiry.

They continually inquire into and reflect on learning and teaching as they collaborate with each other and with their learners who are seen as valued participants of the collaborative process. Learners demonstrate agency and their capacity to take action for their own learning by collaborating with teachers and their peers.

The past twenty months of distance and remote learning allowed the Primary team to innovate and rethink the practices for collaboration on a much deeper level.

Our Primary learning community inquired into multiple online collaborative platforms and used them successfully to bring learning teams together, communicate anytime, and learn anywhere. With an innovative mindset and a problem-solving attitude, we realised collaborative learning does not stop but the opposite is true. The challenge became an opportunity to be more collaborative and more cooperative than ever.

We reached the understanding that technology can improve the collaborative process and enhance learning. Jamboards and Padlets allowed us to brainstorm new ideas, express different points of view and make connections to other people’s thinking in visual ways. Zoom and break out rooms helped us become more patient, respectful and clear communicators.

We learned how to use the chat feature effectively and purposefully to express ideas in writing. Google Classroom with all its features allowed us to work on collaborative projects, feedback to each other and set next steps for moving forward. Toddle enhanced the way we document learning and keep evidence of progress. Flipgrid, WeVideo, iMovie and online drawing platforms inspired our learners to work together, bounce ideas from each, keep the creative juices flowing and share our creations.

Zita Joyce

PYP Coordinator

Perspectives from the Secondary School

Joe Lumsden, Secondary principal, Stonehill International school, Bangalore

Greetings!

In the development of the School’s Mission Statement, Stonehill International School set itself a challenge to provide students with ‘enhanced opportunities for technological innovation’ alongside a programme of engaging academic experiences.

In the secondary articles in this newsletter, we will be sharing specific examples of the technology-based courses that we have opened up over the past few years, as well as work produced by our students which has demonstrated enhanced use of technology.

Alongside these examples, I would also argue that ‘innovation’, particularly with communications technology, is now the default modus operandi for both students and teachers at the school. The onset of the pandemic and the forced closure of schools resulted in teachers and students discovering all kinds of new ways to organise their work, collaborate and communicate effectively.

It is now fairly common to see on a daily basis:

Teachers experimenting with different technological solutions to ensure that students can join lessons at Stonehill regardless of where they are in the world.
Students collaborating or co-presenting material with colleagues not on campus.
Collaborative documents and presentations being created asynchronously through apps on the Google Suite.
Teachers using file sharing, polls, breakout rooms, chats regularly on zoom calls, and recording and uploading lessons so that they are available to everybody.
Hundreds of WhatsApp social and study groups set up in the community to ensure rapid communication between students, parents and teachers.
Online textbooks, graphing software, film editing packages available on all student devices.
Students making high-quality videos to share their learning or promote awareness campaigns.
Influential student-led social media accounts to promote projects and activism groups.

...and many more ways of being ‘innovative’ in order to improve the learning experience for everybody in the community.

Now that we have opened up every technology-based course available in the IB programmes (Digital Design and Product Design in the MYP, Computer Science and Design Technology in the DP). Our next step will be to build up an inspirational set of After-School Activities that allow students to explore technology and push the boundaries of innovation at school.

Our students are certainly capable of coming up with wonderful ideas and producing fascinating products and solutions.

Joe Lumsden

Secondary School Principal

MYP Coordinator

In the MYP, students have an opportunity to explore their creativity through the MYP Digital and Product Design courses.

In every class, lessons are interlinked, giving the students a wide range of understanding and skills necessary for university.

Students use the Design Cycle as a way to structure:

inquiry and analysis of design problems
development and creation of feasible solutions
testing and evaluation of students’ models, prototypes, products or systems

The M1 students are developing an app for their clients using a software called ‘Thunkable’. The M2 students are making decorative products for improving organization like coasters, bookmarks, keychains and home decor items.

In this process, they acquire 2D vector art skills where they learn making shapes and designs, prior to being used in a laser cutting machine to make the final product. This process has taught them to inquire and gather information and analyse the product before actually making the final product.

The students formulated a design brief according to given design specifications. They acquired skills to sketch their ideas, select the best idea and justify their selection. They have developed a plan of resources and time spent to make the products.

Here are some examples of the products:

The M3 Digital Design students are working on a unit where they design and create a website using HTML. It gives students an insight into how the World Wide Web works through an open-ended task where they find their own client for their website. This project prepares them well for M4, where they will have to use this knowledge to design and create a web application.

Jitendra Pandey

MYP Coordinator

Secondary Focus

Technological innovations have a significant impact on educational systems.

At Stonehill, technology and innovation is at the heart of our Mission.

Our faculty leverages technology across the curriculum to best meet the needs of the learners.

Technology is used to provide opportunities for our students to maximise their learning, creatively express themselves, and prepare them for success after Stonehill

Rigorous and practical problem-solving courses in the Diploma Programme (DP) such as Computer Science and Design Technology show our commitment to our mission. Our purpose-built STEM building features mathematics learning spaces, science, design and technology laboratories equipped for resistant materials and robotics. Specialised and futuristic courses such as mobile app development, graphic design, game design are taught.

Students of Stonehill International School, Bangalore working in a STEM LAB

The use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) extends to teaching and learning in all subjects across the curriculum. The effective use of ICT is an 'Approaches To Learning' (ATL) skill, a whole school approach that allows our students to develop information technology literacy and become competent users of computers.

Arguably, the global pandemic has accelerated matters, and the recent campus closures which moved schools online also ramped up speed for having technology and innovation at the centre of teaching and learning. Online courses, teaching aids, educational software, social networking tools, and other emerging technologies disrupt the traditional classroom environment. And as we gradually remove ourselves from being in a Zoom "box" on the screen back into a more physical learning space, we can once again feel the buzz at the Stonehill STEM Block!

David Towse

Whole School Technology Coordinator

DP Focus

Technological Innovation in the Diploma Programme (DP) Focus

In the Diploma Programme, Computer Science and Design and Technology are offered as subjects.

Here are some insights into these subject areas:

Students in Computer Science have been working on a range of topics that involve both theoretical and practical approaches to understanding how computational thinking can be applied to solve particular problems.

The students have developed an understanding of a range of Abstract Data Structures like 2-Dimensional arrays, stacks and queues. Here's a visual representation of Push and Pop mechanisms in stacks.

Aside from this, the students in both year levels have been working on a hands-on project involving the design and development of an online web calendar/to-do list utilizing the PHP programming language to interact with a MySQL database. The students have been designing the database schema, developing the SQL queries needed to retrieve data and figuring out how to manage sessions to keep track of the users logged into the system.

The students are preparing for the IB external examinations. They have an understanding of authentic software development practices with a hands-on approach that helps them develop real-life skills that software engineers need.

In the Design Programme, a solution can be defined as a model, prototype, product or system that students have developed and created independently. Design courses can be offered as:

a distinct digital and/or product design course
a series of distinct digital and/or product design courses
a single course which combines digital and product design

The students have the opportunity to work on Product Design (Woodworking - both hand tools and Power Tools and Computer Numerical Control (CNC)machines), Electronics and Combined Design.

As part of the design and creation process, the students have been making products that would enhance productivity of the target audience. The way products are designed are influenced by the beliefs/values of a community.

We support students to make products that promote inclusivity

The students have produced various products which include board games, stools, desk organisers, tables, wall clocks and coasters. They have acquired skills to identify materials to make various products. They have also acquired skills to join wood using wood joinery techniques such as mortise and tenon, half lap and box joinery. Developing ideas is an important part of the design process.

The students are encouraged to develop multiple ideas before making the products. Hence, 3D modelling and prototyping is an important part of the process. They get an opportunity to evaluate and test the final product against design specifications. We prepare students to become competent designers at Stonehill.

Here are some products designed by our students:

The knowledge, skills and attitudes that students develop in design courses, provide a meaningful foundation for further study and help prepare students for careers in:

fashion, food, graphic design, industrial, instructional, multimedia, product, publications, video gaming and web designing
architecture
education
roles in engineering, manufacturing, advertising and media

The design facility has 3D printers, robotics, electronics and a facility for making graphic design products. The product designing facility has the following tools and equipment:

Power Tools (table saw, band saw, miter saw, circular saw, routers, trimmers, sanding machines, jigsaw, drill press, planing machine, etc)
Hand Tools (mallets, chisels, cramps, planers, spokeshave, marking gauges, tenon and Japanese saw, etc)
CNC Laser Cutter and CNC router
Wood turning machine

Here are some pictures of students in the design workshop:

Stonehill International school bangalore students working in a STEM lab

Manpreet Kaur, DP Coordinator

Juan Camilo, MYP Design & DP Computer Science

Mohammed Nassir, HoD Design & Computer Science

Boarding Focus

Digital Technology is one of three areas of enhanced opportunities at Stonehill and we have enthusiastically embraced the use of technology in our boarding too.

Students today are growing up with extensive exposure to technology in a constantly evolving world.

They have instant and easy access to information via smartphones and computers. At Stonehill boarding, we believe technology is beneficial provided there are set boundaries. Our focus is to help students learn and master useful technological skills, in a safe, responsible and effective manner. We educate students on best practices and the ethical use of the Internet.

Stonehill International school bangalore boarding students during weekend activities

While we address challenges, there have been many positive outcomes from the use of technology as well. They include the use of boarding management software to streamline systems and processes across our boarding houses.

Boarding has integrated technology through the REACH boarding management system which gives students freedom and independence while allowing staff to keep track of their activities and ensure they remain safe. The staff use technology to help monitor pupil well-being and provide the individual care they need.

During remote and distance learning, our boarders have learnt to adapt and use technology to express their ideas through online presentations. During the lockdown, the boarding community connected with each other on Zoom and put together fantastic virtual weekend plans.

Stonehill boarding is committed to providing learning experiences that are challenging in a modern and connected environment.