With the look of the 2020-21 school year up in the air, the Prince Albert Catholic School Division is looking to invest in technology. The division has put out a request for pricing on laptops or notebooks and tablets in order to be prepared for whatever may come in the next school year.
According to director of education Lorel Trumier, the division is investigating the pricing to prepare for whatever may come in the future.
“We, as teachers, want to be in the classroom with our students. We think that is the best way to teach and learn. We do know that we were forced into a remote learning procedure because of COVID-19 and so what we are looking for is everything in between,”
She explained that the division is being proactive and is also working with digital learning expert Dr. Alec Couros from the University of Regina about what is involved with best practices in remote teaching and learning. She explained that teachers had to learn very quickly and have been working hard to understand how to do remote learning in the best way.
“We are also working proactively at perhaps a blended learning approach for the fall so that when we are in school we will be there to help our students with the teacher in front of them and when we are not we still have a means to support our students via remote learning video or remote learning lectures, notes and activities that our students can engage in,” she said.
The division suspects next year’s school year could involve many modes of teaching and learning.
The division is seeking pricing on a purchase of up to an estimated 900 tablets. They reserve the right to determine the quantity of tablets provided by the vendor. The purchase is contingent on pricing and availability but they are prepared to begin the purchase once the supplier is selected.
The division in pricing up to 2,200 notebooks or laptops which have a minimum Windows 10 Pro operating system, 11 inch screen, 64 gigabyte hard drive and four gigabyte memory among other features. The number is also an estimate and the division also reserves the right to determine quantity. The PACSD qualifies for Microsoft’s Shaping the Future Program and this is part of the consideration to the vendor. The closing date for both requests is Friday, June 5.
The catholic division is seeing families begin to register online for the next school year.
“We just posted that online registration process and our families are currently registering as we speak,” Trumier said.
“There is a chance to ask families that are thinking about working with our school division. That puts us in a better position to plan for our students.”
