John Iglar

Technology is a tool as well as a subject for study in its own right. Using technology tools to teach History, Mathematics, langua

ges, etc. is a skill that is more and more imperative for teachers to have and master. Meanwhile, using technology tools to learn and process information - and manage the overwhelming amount of information - is an incredibly important skill for students to learn. This is a huge challenge for any school and anyone charged with leading a technology program.

I love this work and I love working with students, teachers, administrators and parents to help them manage technology, master needed skills, incorporate tools and techniques within their work and learning, and - perhaps most importantly - find a balance between technology and the rest of their lives. Over the past two decades, I've worked in many international schools - several in Africa - and love the myriad of languages, cultures, attitudes and expectations that they encapsulate. ICS is one of the finest schools around and I am proud to be part of the team here.

Living in Ethiopia with my wife, Helen, and daughter, Nadia, is a fantastic experience - challenging and rewarding. We marvel at the culture and history, and love the simple pleasures and opportunities that life in Addis Ababa affords.

 One of the big projects that we're working on at ICS is our 1:1 Laptop Program. We began this program in 2010 with two grades and are phasing it in over three years. When we've completed the final phase of implementation, all students from grade 6 to grade 12 will be issued with a laptop computer to use in school and at home. This is an exciting program, one of the first of its kind in Africa.

It's an exciting and energizing program to be working on. Students are enthusiastic about using technology tools in their learning, and are eager to learn more about technology as well as to learn skills for their subject areas. Teachers are also excited about having research, creation and collaboration tools at their and their students' fingertips. Teachers are part of the program, too: each teacher at ICS receives a technology benefit to enable them to purchase their own laptop computer.

More information about the program can be found within the technology section of the ICS website.

Another initiative that we are pursuing at ICS is the use of different software and operating systems, particularly free (as in libre) and open-source software. In order to support the different parts of our community, we are using and supporting several computer platforms - Windows, Macintosh and Linux. The software we use here must be able to be supported across those platforms, and we find that open source software is best suited to do that. Furthermore, by using this software we expose our students to different ways of doing things and strengthen their ability to adapt to different environments. Our use of the Ubuntu version of Linux on our student laptops furthers this and helps broaden our students' skills.

We take inspiration for this emphasis from many sources, but perhaps one with greatest educational authority comes from the UK. Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) conducted a comprehensive study on the use of technology in schools, and in the report's first key finding made this statement: "Over-reliance on a standard 'office' application and operating system restricted (students') opportunities to develop generic and transferable skills." (emphasis mine) By using a variety of software and operating systems, we intend to widen our students' opportunities and expand the development of useful skills.