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toc =**Mission Statement**=

According to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education’s Technology in Education Framework, PreK-12 schools should infuse technology in teaching and learning in order to improve outcomes for all students whilst fostering and promoting digital fluency (Ministry of Education, 2012). The Thom Technology Catalyst Team wholeheartedly agrees with the ministry’s assertion and therefore strives to effectively and strategically integrate technology to enhance student engagement and learning. Working as a community of practice, the TTCT uses a team approach to immerse in professional learning and action research with the aim of designing experiences and environments that meet the needs of learners within an evolving digital landscape. Above all, we are a catalyst team intent on encouraging and supporting ourselves and others to change instructional approaches to improve student achievement.

=**Priority Strategies**=

These were gleaned from our focus conversation (erik)
 * Using a variety of devices, experiment with pedagogically significant applications of learning technologies.
 * Establish whether a BYOD structure is feasible at Thom Collegiate.
 * Engage in professional learning and sharing to deepen our skills and knowledge.
 * Build capacity by offering support to other on staff so that each teacher will eventually be capable of integrating technology into teaching and learning.
 * Using the concept of digital citizenship, teach and model appropriate uses of technology.
 * Work in conjunction with the division, students, and community regarding the technology refresh at Thom Collegiate in order to improve access and our learning environment.

= = =**Guiding Documents and Framework**= = =

Until the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education fully implements the Technology in Education Framework and embeds the digital fluency competencies into curricula, the TTCT will adopt the ISTE NETS-Standards and Performance Indicators for students. Areas of the NETS include:


 * Communication and Collaboration[[image:http://www.iste.org/images/nets-pages/s-indicator.png width="268" height="242" align="right"]]
 * Creativity and Innovation
 * Technology Operations
 * Digital Citizenship
 * Critical Thinking
 * Research and Information

ISTE has also published NETS for teachers, including the areas of:


 * Digital Age Learning
 * Student Learning
 * Professional Growth[[image:http://www.iste.org/images/nets-pages/nets-t-indicator.png width="319" height="288" align="right"]]
 * Digital Citizenship
 * Digital Age Work

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =**Alignment with CIF**=


 * Higher Literacy and Achievement**
 * Increased student engagement through the use of technology
 * Extension of current practice (development and strengthening of skills related to reading strategies)
 * Increased student success linked with student collaboration


 * Equitable Opportunities for All**
 * Access to internet, hardware, and software
 * Assistive Technologies
 * Availability of online resources and course content
 * Smooth Transitions into and through the System**
 * Data sharing
 * Electronic portfolios and online artefacts demonstrating learning

=Welcome to the Thom Technology Catalyst Team (TTCT)'s Wiki!=

What the TTCT is all about:

 * As a group of educators interested in providing meaningful, accessible and engaging learning opportunities to our students, we met and started brainstorming ways we could make lessons interesting, valuable and meaningful to students. As we are living in an extremely technological time, it made sense to look at technology as a means of helping us attain these goals. We have come up with a number of different innovative ideas: encouraging students to "Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)", experimenting with the flipped classroom, and making lessons available to students online. We also surved the students to get their feedback on the BYOD initiative. []
 * Although we have only recently begun this initiative, we have already noticed a great deal of success. Students are much more engaged when using technology that they implement in their everyday lives; a Macbeth character sketch may be more appealing when turned into a Facebook status update or the French adjectives lesson has become an engaging lesson when creating a Twitter account to describe a number of Youtube clips or pictures. We look forward to continuing along this path and looking for more opportunities to provide students with authentic, engaging and innovative educational experiences! Thank you for looking at our progress to date.

Questions?

 * Any of us would be happy to show you the projects we've been working on and answer any questions you may have!

Examples of Teacher Involvement can be found by accessing the pages of this wiki.
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