Page 1 - Spotlight Issue 73

Qingshan Campus‧May 2026

Issue73

The KCIS Approach to Using Technology in School
The KCIS Approach to Using Technology in School
The KCIS Approach to Using Technology in School
The KCIS Approach to Using Technology in School
~ Zachary Warmke

For adults, modern life is dominated by digital devices. It’s almost impossible to imagine going back Assistant Director of Curriculum
to the world of twenty or thirty years ago, when few people had an internet connection and smartphones
didn’t exist. We teachers need to prepare young learners for the world they will enter when they become
adults, including the technology they will work with.

This is a challenge because technology changes so quickly. We do, of course, train students to use
several types of technology. They gain skills with iPads, Chromebooks, PCs, and 3D printers, as well as
general online safety and research skills. But what if these tools change completely in the next few years?
Adaptable Skills
Our approach to solving this problem is not to focus on teaching students how to use specific tools or
apps, but to establish foundational skills and good habits that will help students no matter how technology
changes. Sometimes the difference is subtle, but important. We don’t teach students “how to research
with Google,” but rather, “how to do research online with tools such as Google.”
From the Editor
By focusing on general skills first and then using technology to enhance them, From the Editor
our students become more adaptable.
In the Age of AI, What Should
A perfect example came up in our In the Age of AI, What Should
recent grade 4 FET project, Living and
Children Really Learn?
Learning. In this project, students research Children Really Learn?
how children around the world live their
daily lives. Online research tools, including 國際處主任 賴國宜
AI, help our students complete this As part of PISA’s 2025 report Learning in the Digital
research efficiently. However, the goal of World, schools around the world are rethinking what
the project was to learn how to identify students really need for the future. Students are now
important research questions and organize assessed not only on what they know, but also on their
information. If we suddenly lost access ability to learn independently and to use technology to
to the internet, students could still complete this project using library books. think and solve problems. In other words, it’s no longer
The main learning goal does not depend on technology, but technology helps just about what students know, but more importantly,
students reach the goal. In the future, students will be able to organize research how they learn.
and find information efficiently, even if their AI tools and technology are different.
This is also the key ideas we would like to share
Thinking About Thinking; Learning About Learning with you in this issue. At KCIS, we actively integrate

This approach to using technology as a supporting tool aligns with KCIS’s digital tools into our classrooms. At the same time, we
approach to teaching English and other skills. Students not only learn to use focus on helping students learn how to use technology
foundational skills, but also to think critically. When we use technology in class, purposefully and wisely. Today, children can find
we teach students to think about how to use technology to help them achieve information easily with one click. However, real learning
their goals in research, writing, organization, and more. They learn to consider happens when they take time to think—by sorting
which tools and apps can help them most. ideas, comparing information, asking questions, and
understanding what it means. Through this process,
This is the same philosophy we apply to language arts. Our English knowledge becomes something they truly understand
curriculum strongly emphasizes language arts skills like using text features and can use in real life.
and analyzing text structure. We teach students to analyze and think about the
stories they read. They become experts on language arts skills. 由OECD（經濟合作暨發展組織）推動的 PISA
2025 Learning in the Digital World 指出，教育不
In informational texts, for example, students 應再只關注孩子「學會了什麼」，而是應更重視「如
learn how to format text clearly, using bold 何學習」。這項國際評量的新指標強調兩大能力：一
headings and cause-and-effect writing structure. 是自主學習，孩子能設定目標、專注投入並持續修
When they write projects, we teach them the 正；二是運用科技解決問題，能透過數位工具探索、
value of those skills, whether their work is digital 分析與創造，而非只是被動接收資訊。
or not. If they create their final drafts using Google 這也正是這一期校刊想與您分享的核心議題：當
Docs, Canva, or a sheet of paper, the same 孩子只要動動手指，透過 AI 就能找到答案，我們該
communication and language arts skills apply. 如何重新定義「學習」。對我們而言，數位素養教育
Expectations and Limits of Technology 不只是將最新科技融入課堂，更重要的是培養孩子駕
馭科技的能力。在資訊快速取得的時代，更要確保孩
Although modern life seems to be centered on digital technology, we 子經歷「分類、比較、判斷、內化」等思考歷程，才
recognize the value of real-world learning over online interactions. At the heart 能將知識轉化為可運用的能力。
of all of our work is the concept of authenticity, which means using language 此外，這一期也邀請五年級的中籍英師團隊分享
arts for real communication with peers and the community. Time spent working 最新的寫作主題 My School Club Rocks，豐富多元的
on a creative project with friends is infinitely more valuable than screen time. 社團活動一直是康橋的重要特色，哪些社團最受孩子
And no app or computer game can replace the connection students feel when 喜愛？他們在其中學到了什麼？誠摯邀請您閱讀學生
they collaborate during a book club discussion or a fun group performance. 們的作品，看看他們如何推薦自己的社團，還有在參
While we will continue to update our technological and digital curriculum, we will 與過程中學到哪些技能。
always put meaningful interactions and real-life experiences at the core of our
English program.