It’s rare for people to transition from the corporate boardroom to the high school classroom. Yet nine years ago, Noelene Callaghan did exactly that; leaving the marketing business behind in favour of life as an educator.
Initially working part-time as a university tutor and lecturer, Noelene found her workload gradually increase from two hours a week to 12 hours. Having also been a marketer in the early stages of online business, Noelene saw firsthand how technology was affecting the way large organisations operate and felt these same benefits could be achieved in schools.
“I was really lucky because I learned how to do all the coding and programming. So my role as a marketer made it easy to explain technology concepts to people in layman’s terms. I guess as I started to get more involved in teaching, I was educating staff on how to use these tools and ended up gradually becoming a teacher of technology,” said Noelene.
Noelene sees collaborative culture within schools as key to learning development. She believes no two students are the same and that technology is key to providing tailored learning, even in low socio-economic areas. By using different delivery methods, teachers can vary their style of teaching according to a student’s way of learning, ensuring that each student is on a level opportunity playing field.
“Personalised learning means every student has their own learning and lesson plan. So by blending technology with certain learning styles, every students has a range of activities within the classroom environment for them to do amazing work.”
“By blending technology with certain learning styles, every students has a range of activities within the classroom environment for them to do amazing work”
“The program has really changed the way we approach things,” she said. “Beforehand, we were really sceptical about moving technology forward but since collaborating with Microsoft and other educators, we have experienced so much positive growth and change within our school.”
“We’ve been working towards introducing collaborative learning environments for a long time, and we are fairly limited in terms of resources. However, using the Office suite we have been able to create classrooms where kids can collaborate. So I think accessibility has really been key for us in recognising the impacts this has on our students, and we are confident we are heading in the right direction.”
Noelene says that the school’s flexibility and willingness to try new things has led her to taking a more senior role in professional IT development; having the opportunity to find out about different educational tools and then acting as the bridge between teachers in helping them implement these in the classroom.
“We have a program called ‘Brekkie with a Techie’, where teachers can turn up with their coffee and their computer and just learn. The program has been incredibly successful to-date, and it’s great that the staff leave each session knowing they always have my support.”
During her time as a teacher, Noelene has seen a dramatic shift in how IT is perceived in education. Once considered a secondary pedagogy, Noelene feels the field has slowly but surely become a focal point for schools.
“The Innovative Expert Educator Program has given teachers such as myself, who are really passionate about what they do, a voice and the confidence to use that voice. Working with other like-minded professionals has really helped me overcome any hurdles I have come across and it’s made a massive difference in the way I approach things at school.”
“The Innovative Expert Educator Program has given teachers such as myself, who are really passionate about what they do, a voice and the confidence to use that voice”
“Where I once was pushing matter up a hill, now it’s a lot easier to integrate IT within the classroom.”
Noelene 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.
