Santa Maria College

At Santa, the use of technology to support and enrich learning means students are ready to move into an agile and ever changing 21st century world. Our students benefit from the transformative power of digital technologies to support them in their learning. A Santa Maria student in Year 7-10 studies the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program, and Years 11 and 12 the VCE, VET or VCAL programs, and the use of the G Suite for Education makes her learning visible to her teachers.  The G-Suite allows students to readily communicate and collaborate with other students and teachers. The use of G-Suite for Education throughout the college allows teachers to more readily respond to the individual learning needs of each girl and to differentiate the teaching of each class. By utilising the G Suite ecosystem, teachers are able to observe and comment on student work in real-time, making timely and tailored comments to help enhance each girl’s learning. This involvement allows students to act on advice and suggestions from their teachers prior to the submission of their work for assessment. According to one Year 9 student, “I like that it is interactive as I can easily communicate with my teachers and peers to collaborate, share and receive feedback.” This virtual classroom environment complements the traditional classroom delivery, meaning that purposeful communication, learning and support from her teachers is no longer limited to the scheduled class time for each subject.  In 2017, Santa Maria students in Years 7 and 8 began their secondary school exploration of Digital Technologies, a learning program where students had the opportunity to become creators of digital tools rather than just consumers of existing technology. Through a program based around computational thinking, students explored the functions and purpose of algorithms and binary numbers and either established, or further developed, skills in coding using Bluetooth enabled robots such as Sphero, and select use of drones. In addition to this, possibilities for invention and innovation through the use of digital input devices called Makey Makeys, places our students at the height of such digital advancement in the educational space.