Matthew Jorgensen is the eLearning Manager and eSmart Coordinator for Coomera Anglican College in Queensland. Matthew is in his 15th year at Coomera Anglican College, and in his varied role he provides curriculum-based support to teachers, educates parents and students around cyber safety and offers teacher training sessions inside and outside the college.
“When it comes to technology and the curriculum, it’s critical that the two worlds meet. We’ve come a long way in the last two years; some of our teachers wouldn’t even touch computers at first and now they are leading the pack. We are looking forward to continuing to work with Microsoft as we continue to expand our breadth and use of technology.”
“We’ve come a long way in the last two years; some of our teachers wouldn’t even touch computers at first and now they are leading the pack”
Over the last couple of years, Matthew been has working to get the school to an e-smart status, which they have just achieved. “This is a guarantee to the entire College community that teachers are proactive in providing a cybersafe disposition amongst all community members when online,” Matthew said. “We keep the conversation current, give updates on policies and provide parent/student sessions – working to answer any questions or concerns.”
At Coomera Anglican College, all students from Pre-Prep to Year 12 use a wide range of ICTs. In addition to designated computer classrooms and class sets of laptops, ICTs are available in all classrooms. Teachers have regular one-to-one training sessions throughout the year, and each year level in Primary has an expert who is designated to maximising ICT usage.
Matthew believes that educational technology, when used well, has the power to make a different to the learning outcomes that teachers work to achieve. A big part of his role is also delivering onsite professional learning to teachers inside and outside the college through Professional Learning Australia (PLA). The program has been going for two years, and he aims to deliver about eight sessions a year around core topics.
Matthew believes that educational technology, when used well, has the power to make a different to the learning outcomes that teachers work to achieve.
“We’ve moved forward in leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. One of our teachers was recently overseas visiting other schools, and looking at how they do things. When she came back she said that none of the schools she saw had anywhere as near as the technology innovation that Coomera Anglican College has – which is incredibly positive.”
“I’ve also recently been using ProjectSpark in class – giving our years seven and eight kids the opportunity to build their own educational games. This is something we’d like to explore further, and I’m looking forward to seeing where this takes us,” Matthew said.
“As an Expert Educator I’ve learnt about a lot of things that I didn’t know about; there is a lot of information to help teachers. Everything I do is now through a Microsoft lens, and I’m passionate about leveraging everything I can, such as Office Mix, which has been fantastic for my classes already. I’ve also really enjoyed being part of a wider community of educators, sharing and leveraging ideas.”
“Everything I do is now through a Microsoft lens, and I’m passionate about leveraging everything I can, such as Office Mix, which has been fantastic for my classes already”
Matthew is one of six Expert Educators who have been selected to represent Australia at the Microsoft Global Educator Exchange (E2) in Seattle, on April 29 – an annual event that brings together 300 of the most innovative educators and students from around the world.
