North Delco News

Academy-Notre Dame De Namur recently issued the following announcement.

For the second consecutive time, Notre Dame was selected as an Apple Distinguished School for 2021-2024, a three-year designation, for its continuous innovation in learning, teaching, and the school environment. 

Head of School Dr. Laura Hotchkiss said that she has “great pride in the work of our students and faculty for their creativity and passion for the education of our girls! Congratulations to the team for this recognition.”

The first time Notre Dame was designated as an Apple Distinguished School was 2018-2021. 

In order to be considered for the designation, a primary or secondary school must be a one-to-one Apple device school and teachers must have their Apple teacher certification, meaning they have had a certain amount of training in Apple products or programs. 

Tyler Gaspich, Director of  Information Resources and Technologies, said that this designation is a testament to not only Notre Dame’s  commitment to powerful technology, but its emphasis on creativity and power. 

“It's an excellent demonstration of the innovative nature at Notre Dame,” said Gaspich. 

Being an Apple Distinguished School and having this technology at students and faculty members fingertips allows for teaching which incorporates much more than a textbook and notebook. 

Students learn not just through exams but by creating their own informational videos or even connecting with other schools across the globe who are also an Apple Distinguished School. 

“We are a school that values creativity and innovation, and we are looking to reform how we assess and measure understanding from a student, while showing that we are a forefront leader in this effort.” said Gaspich 

How Notre Dame utilizes this technology can vary by teacher or department. Gaspich said that teachers are using it in ways to reinvent the wheel and change the classic classroom setting. 

For example, instead of lecturing during school hours, teachers may assign students to watch lectures at home while doing more interactive work during classroom time. It could also be assigning students to create a video to share with the class about a subject instead of writing a paper on it. 

Gaspich said that Notre Dame’s use of Apple products and familiarity with them “allows for teachers to create those different innovative strategies.” 

iMovie is one of the most used Apple programs at Notre Dame according to Gaspich. By utilizing iMovie, Gaspich said that students are creating more than just informational video for themselves and their peers - it is creating leadership opportunities by putting students in leadership roles of their own education. 

Gaspich added that students won’t remember the essay they wrote, but they will remember the video they produced. 

Associate Head of School Dr. Liz Willis shared, “Notre Dame continues to differentiate ourselves as a school that prioritizes not only providing exceptional technology to students, but supporting their intentional use of these resources for learning, connection, and exploration.” 

Gaspich hopes that the future of technology at Notre Dame involves blending it even more into the classroom but also teaching students how to stay safe online. 

“Technology isn’t going anywhere,” Gaspich said. “It is important to learn how to integrate it instead of ignoring it.” 

Visit ndapa.org/academics/academics-at-notre-dame to learn more about the opportunities in STEM that are available at Notre Dame. 

Original source can be found here.