Teach Middle East Magazine June 2014 Issue 2 Vol. 1 | Page 26

Featured Teacher

(L-R) Mohammed Mehraj
and Rajind Karunaratne,
Year 13 students involved in
special ICT projects at The
Cambridge High School.

coding and interlinks that they did, took
a while but the overall result was good.
What really stood out for me was their
creativity. In that same class, there
was another boy called Mihai Leolea
who created a game called Eat The
Smiles. The software that he used was
Scratch Game Maker. The game is
designed with three progressive levels
of play; easy, medium and complex.
He configured it so that as the player
advances to the next level it becomes
more challenging and the scores
change.
Another student, Mohammed Mehraj
created a website for our Model United
Nations. He did it in Adobe Dream
Weaver. There is Rajind Karunaratne
who did all our video editing in FCP
(Final Cut Pro for Mac Systems) and
links. He also does Graphic Design
work for our school magazine.
Our Grade 5 students have also
created PowerPoint online quizzes with
sound and videos. They did this under
the guidance of Miss Frincy Francis,
the Head of our ICT department. We
mainly offered guidance in the initial
stages and during the project so they
stayed on track but they did the work
themselves.
What were some of the surprises
that the project revealed?
All of these students surpassed my
expectations. They were very creative
and committed to the work.

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June 2014

Class Time

How can other teachers implement
such a project?
An important point is that each teacher
should be able to use IT devices
successfully in their lessons across the
subject areas. Once they are familiar
with the programmes and software
available to them, they can then find
creative ways to employ the use of
videos, photography and text in various
projects. At Cambridge High, we give
all our teachers training as soon as
they come to us.
Share with us three tips or strategies
for helping teachers to integrate ICT
in their daily lessons.
Training is paramount. The first thing
is to get initial training to familiarise
themselves with the techn ology and its
proper use. After this, workshops are
required to ensure that they are using
the devices properly and effectively.
The main thing is to initiate them in using
the technology for videoconferences
so that they can interact with teachers
in other schools. Once new technology
is available, teachers should be trained
on how to use it.
What is the best advice that you
have received?
The best advice I got is from my dad.
“Don’t expect the reward; be a hard
worker.” He always inspires me.
Do you have any new projects?
Yes. Our Principal, Mr Peter Lugg
will be leaving us at the end of this
school year. I am working on a short

documentary of his time here over the
years as a memento for him using FCP.
After a short, but insightful interview with
Dr Herbert, there is much anticipation
that her next project in the school will
be another successful project for The
Cambridge High School.