ling lange references
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Ling Lange ReferencesTRANSCRIPT
When Ling Lange enters a classroom, everyone
stops to listen. With her easy smile and amiable per-
sonality, she makes technology accessible and exciting
for even the most technophobic of teachers.
In 2009, Ling became ISP’s ‘e-learning Facilitator’.
Her mission was threefold: to provide support and
training for teachers in the use of classroom technol-
ogy; assist them in incorporating best practices for
embedding ICT in the Primary School; and, fi nally,
research and resource new technologies to enhance
teaching and learning
Two years later, and the results speak for them-
selves—teachers and students have never been more
engaged with technology, and many exciting new
initiatives are in the pipeline.
We spoke with Ling and asked her what she thought
the most successful aspects had been in each of the
following areas. Here is what she told us:
Classroom Technology
SMART Board training has been very popular. While
the boards themselves are easy to use at a basic level,
training allows teachers to exploit their full potential.
Training can be one-on-one or in small groups or as
a ‘master class’ workshop where experienced users
share ideas and work together to solve problems.
Currently, I am working with Secondary School lan-
guage teachers to develop materials that build on the
special features of the SMART Notebook software and
with Primary School teachers to demonstrate how they
can record and replay board activities using the SMART
capture tools.
Collaboration with Teachers
I work closely with the PYP Coordinator, Sean
Walker, to produce a detailed plan of how to embed
ICT in the curriculum across all grades and subjects to
best meet the requirements of the IB programme.
Collaboration is central to our e-learning strategy
and ‘team teaching’ collaborations model the behavior
we want to encourage in students. Wikispaces have
proven a great tool for this kind of activity. We have
also shown students how to collaborate on dynamic,
interactive presentations such as Prezi, which has
become an excellent tool to support their Exhibition
projects in Grade 5.
Resourcing New Technologies
New educational tools appear every day, and it
is my role to ‘test drive’ them and suggest the ones
most likely to support the curriculum. One area we
have given special attention to is e-safety. We have
materials that are aimed at both students and parents.
Our fi rst e-safety workshop for parents at the Primary
School was very popular, and we look forward to
delivering further sessions this year.
The Magic Ingredient
What is Ling’s magic ingredient? All the teachers
she works with are impressed by her infectious energy,
enthusiasm and ‘can do’ attitude, and all agree she has
the ability to inspire and to motivate. Just ask Danielle
Beaulieu, the Primary School Principal: “Ling inspires
teachers to take risks and gets people interested and
excited about learning new things and innovative prac-
tices. She convinces educators that what they think is
too diffi cult or complicated can be simple... Ling brings
equal amounts of both talent and devotion to her work;
she will say that she is just an ordinary person trying to
help others reach greatness using ideas and tools she has
learned, but I think she is quite extraordinary indeed.”
Facilitating e-Learning
at ISP
An Interview with Ling Lange
8 the tribune — The Journal of the International School of Paris — www.isparis.edu