Lighthouse School Internet Service Boosted
Lighthouse School students in the school's new computer lab which is now equipped with high speed Internet access after the donation of an ADSL connection by Cable & Wireless.
Students at the Lighthouse School now have access to high speed Internet service for use in their classes following the donation of ADSL service from Cable & Wireless.
The donation of the high-speed service upgrades the dial-up Internet service the local telecommunications company had previously given the school as part of its Internet for Schools programme.
With the Internet for Schools programme, Cable & Wireless provides every school in the Cayman Islands, from primary through tertiary levels, with free Internet service. This programme has been in place since 1998. As part of the project, Cable & Wireless has also trained teachers at every school to ensure that the Internet service is being used as an important part of the educational curriculum.
Mrs. Andrea Fa'amoe, Cable & Wireless Corporate Communications Manager said: " The central goals of the Internet for Schools programme are to encourage each school to integrate the Internet into its curriculum, and to increase the range of age and ability groups using the Internet as a learning tool. The Lighthouse School has taken a very pro-active approach in using new technologies, and we are happy to assist the school's dedicated staff in their efforts."
The Lighthouse School, with 54 full-time students ranging in age from 4 to 18 years, recently moved into a new school building that employs state-of-the-art facilities for the education of Cayman's special needs children. These facilities include a computer lab and a library, which were not functioning at their best capacity with the school's previous dial-up Internet connection. Now, all of the computers at the school which has a computer in every classroom can have high-speed Internet access.
Lighthouse School Librarian and Head of Information Technology, Mrs. Liz Thompson, said: " The use of the Internet is an integral part of the curriculum at the Lighthouse School, as well as a vital education aid for the specialist teachers there. Many teachers at the school use the Internet as a research tool. With the free access, a vast amount of educational material becomes available to them to help develop their lesson plans and stay current with their ongoing training."
At the Lighthouse School, children are instructed in the core areas of Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Physical Education, Music and Art are also part of the daily programme. Pre-vocational and living skills programmes are included to encourage more independence for community living. Audiovisual materials, videotapes, computer programmes and the Internet are all used to assist and accelerate the learning of concepts and skills.
Expected new programmes this year include
Design Technology, Library Media Science and Information Technology.
The school plans to use the new ADSL technology in a number of
ways to benefit students. Mrs. Thompson noted that the connection
is a dedicated one meaning it will be on all day for convenient
access. Students will continue to use the Internet for research
on different topics and projects. Teachers use the service to
develop their lesson plans and to gain new ideas.
Mrs. Thompson described the children's excitement with using the Internet at school: "Students really enjoy using the Internet to learn new things. For example, they are highly motivated by going on to the Internet to track results in the latest sporting competitions and to stay informed about the West Indies cricket team at http://www.cwcricket.com/"The main use of the ADSL connection will be evident in the school's new computer lab which will allow students to learn computer skills on a one computer per child basis. All classes have scheduled time in the computer lab. The children will be supervised, and filtering software will be installed to ensure the children access information that is appropriate for them.
Additionally, plans are in place for students with motor-skill problems to use computers in the school library with the help of adapted devices such as a large keyboard, a track ball and PC Web Speak which allows students to navigate the Internet by speaking. The school also intends to set-up a parent information centre using the new Internet connection to allow parents to learn more about ways to assist in their children's development.
Other planned uses of the new high speed Internet connection at the school include continued teacher training through independent research and distance learning programmes.
Mrs. Thompson said: "One of our goals at the Lighthouse School is to help students overcome their difficulties and eventually enter the mainstream education system. All of these new tools including the Internet service help us to do this through the implementation of additional programmes."
Mrs. Fa'amoe said: "Cable & Wireless has long been involved with the Lighthouse School, and we support its policy of inclusion which seeks to empower the differently abled to fully participate in the community. Through the Internet for Schools programme, we can provide one of our services for the students' learning and development. This is especially important to assist Lighthouse School students to fully participate in our information age."