Faculty News

ICT Department

The last time I wrote to you all, I touched on Fr Fini’s vision and the college's achievement to successfully complete our first ever cycle of our one to one computer device program at the end of 2019, without knowing we were only a few weeks away from a full lockdown due to COVID-19.  I shudder to think where we would have been at as a school without a device in each of the boys' hands. So, let’s take a second to thank Fr Fini’s vision and work, and the many dedicated staff involved in making it a reality for Mazenod College. 

Many of the projects outlined in my last article were put on hold as we recover still from our last round of lockdowns.  The IT department recorded three times as many requests for assistance than normal as we entered remote learning.  This continued for weeks as many staff, students and parents were sent on a forced learning curve to cope with many technological challenges and changes. This crisis certainly forced us all to do things we wouldn’t normally do in our everyday working lives, let alone what’s done in the classroom.  Personally, I was co-ordinating my team and providing support to teachers and students one minute, and then attempting to hold PE lessons in the driveway to my six and nine-year-olds the next.  This turning upside down of our lives has a positive here in that our eyes have been opened onto how technology can be used in ways we would not have thought possible. Not only that, but the opportunity to spend more time with family has been golden and should not be overlooked.

Many IT projects have been paused during this crisis, some however have continued.  We are in the process of refreshing 50% of our staffs' devices, as well as continuing the planning for our core server infrastructure to be refreshed over the September holidays with much of this work starting in the next few weeks. Without this changeover to our core server infrastructure, we would not be able to continue to have a robust environment to host all the aforementioned technology, even in a remote capacity. Planning will also commence for our end of year laptop changeover as part of the one to one computer device program, as well as for the commissioning of a new VCD computer lab, as we consolidate some other computer lab spaces in the college.

As I write this, we are on the verge of Victoria’s second lockdown and remote learning due to COVID-19, in what I read yesterday was a once in a lifetime event, having a massive impact on our lives, business and of course our children’s education.  I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the dedicated staff in the IT Department for all their hard work in these unprecedented times, and at the same time, thank all the teachers, administration staff, parents and students as we face these uncertain times and challenges with remote learning 2.0.

Mr Ashley Voigt

ICT Manager