As parents and educators, we have witnessed for ourselves how our work and social environments have changed – from changes in modes of communication, i.e.letters to emails to mobile messaging, to changes in interactive devices i.e. pagers to mobile phones to tablets. In tomorrow’s age where artificial intelligence and machine learning are set to take over many functions and roles controlled by humans today, the challenge is not just the ownership of these devices, but how you are able to harness the capabilities of these devices to overcome future challenges, to do what robots are not able to do.

To do this, you have to start young, and start right. We designed the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Programme at Edgefield to meet these needs.

Our goal is “Quality Learning in the Hands of Every Learner Empowered with Technology”. While our Digital Literacy Programme equips every student with new media production skills, our 1:1 personalised learning through iPad integrates thinking and learning across our total curriculum. Drawing upon research where one retains information more effectively with visuals (Medina, 2008), Digital Sketchnoting makes thinking visible, and combines with cloud technology to enable learning anytime, anywhere. Co-construction of knowledge and internet research amplifies and deepens learning, while collaborative apps allow exploration of alternative perspectives and diverse views. This enables meta-cognitive learning to take place. Through the affordances of technology, learning becomes dynamic and personalised.