1/7/2020
Cardiff Council is providing every teacher in Cardiff with up-to-date digital equipment, to assist them in the delivery of online and blended learning.
Joint funding from the Council and Welsh Government, has meant that 1,300 laptops have been delivered to teachers so far with a further 1,700 devices to be delivered over the next few weeks.
Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills, Cllr Sarah Merry said: "This scheme will ensure that every teacher in the city is equipped with up-to-date digital equipment so that they can deliver online learning efficiently.
"We now know thateducation will need to be delivered through blended learning, combining online educational materials with traditional classroom methods. This further strengthens the importance that our workforce need good digital access going forward, even when schools reopen.
Since the Welsh Government guidance around the streaming of live lessons (synchronous learning) has recently changed and schools have now been provided with guidelines, the delivery of new Council owned devices, will also allow teachers to deliver live lessons, safely and proficiently. It will also provide them with the opportunity to enhance the use of technology in their lessons, create content and communicate with pupils and colleagues.
Cllr Merry added: "Since school closures, Cardiff Council has provided significant training to support schools to deliver online and distanced learning, including virtual teacher training in partnership with The open University. This training will continue to support teachers in delivering both synchronous and blended learning."
In addition to digital provision for teachers,Cardiff Council has distributedjust under 6500 digital devices including Chromebooks and iPads to children and young people in Cardiff who have been identified as digitally deprived. This is in addition to 2000 4G mobile broadband devices.