[MANDEVILLE, Jamaica] – The Catholic College Of Mandeville (CCM) in collaboration with the Jamaica Diaspora Education Taskforce (JDETF) will host a Virtual Early Childhood Conference, under the theme: Technology: A bridge to Successful Virtual Early Childhood Learning on Wednesday, November 4th and Thursday 5th, 2020.
CCM President, Dr. Dianna Davis Smith stated; “Catholic College of Mandeville remains committed to the professional development of all stakeholders in the realm of education. With perfect vision 2020 has fostered an unrivaled relationship between Catholic College of Mandeville and JDTAN.
Our union has doubled our usual conference output from 1 day to two days as well as the number of expected attendees, thereby allowing more variety and reach. November 4 &5 is the public celebration of our relationship.”
Sessions will be held from 8:30 to 2:30 Jamaican time and will cover:
- Safety: Using Technology to Keep Children Safe
- Google Classroom & Google Meetings
- Robotics & Coding: Engaging Early Childhood Learner
- APPs: Developing & Supporting Children’s Social and Emotional Development
- Making Mathematics Meaningful in the Early Childhood Environments
- Tech Education before Tech Entertainment
- Understanding and Supporting Autistic Learning in the Early Years
- Let’s Get Non-Technical! Balancing Virtual and Real Life
- Drones & the Early Childhood Classroom
- Fathers: Living Beyond Labels
- Teachers and Parents: Improving Mental Health using Technology
Dr. Dwayne Dyce JDETF Chairman commented that “the collaboration between the Education Task Force and the Catholic College of Mandeville reflects the type of relationships that should be had in these uncertain times. We are here for one another, to provide support and technical skills. This collaborative partnership will provide our early childhood educators with global perspectives for our Jamaican students.”
Lesleyann Samuel, JDETF Vice-Chair added; “I am delighted to collaborate with CCM to address the needs of the early childhood community. They say that the first 1500 days of a child’s life are the most important. So, anything that we can do to positively impact this time for our youngest citizens is time well spent!”
The JDETF is part of the Jamaica Diaspora Taskforce Action Network (JDTAN) which is led by Chairman Leo Gilling.
In speaking of the conference, Mr. Gilling expressed “It is indeed a great pleasure to work with the staff of Catholic College of Mandeville in identifying needs and tailoring the interventions for the practitioners who need it so badly at the early childhood level of education in Jamaica. JDTAN has always wanted to work at this level and we are happy to partner with the passionate Dr.Dianna Davis Smith to get it done. If the conference is anything close to how we planned it, it will be great.”
The conference will be accessible on the JDTAN JAMINAR platform, and all attendees will receive a Certificate of Completion.
For additional information and to register for free go to: https://ccm.edu.jm/news-and-events/early-childhood-conference/
