Those students who want to are taking coding lessons in the science room with the MIT’s Digital Literacies project, learning first steps towards programming.

The teacher displays a pre-prepared worksheet, his own creation, on the interactive whiteboard and enters the answers given by the students using a digital pen.

In geography class today it’s all about finding information from an atlas and online. What companies are there in Silicon Valley, and why are they there?

Today’s topic is satire. The students are invited to google to find a definition. Then the teacher shows them an extract from the current edition of the German satirical TV show Neo Magazin Royale on the interactive whiteboard.

We’re taking a tour of the classrooms. A look into several of them reveals students working with laptops, other classes aren’t using IT and some are doing lo- and hi-tech learning at the same time. The impression I get is that the laptops are just another piece of school equipment, alongside the books, pens, paper, scissors and glue.

Today’s the day my research at the GESS in Singapore gets underway. My first impression is one of calm confidence in the use of digital media. They’re simply part of school life.

Using his laptop, the teacher makes live comments and corrections on the pieces the students are writing on their iPads. No nasty surprises with this method.

The Georg Eckert Institute has arrived at the GISB – and brought a sweet surprise with it.

The school premises are full of screens and projectors showing video installations created by students. It’s like an art exhibition.

You can see some photos of the “Noche de Colores” on the German School Abroad La Paz Website.

It’s group work time. The students are using paper today. When it’s time to present what they’ve done, they place their writing pads under the document camera so their work appears on the digital blackboard. At one point, when the teacher points out what seems to be an error, the students are able to use the zoom function to show that the question was misleading.

The students are using iPads to create digital learning stations on the topic of China. They each choose their own focal theme, read articles and watch videos about it, and select the information they think is most relevant. There’s a lot of discussion of how good and useable the various sources are.

I’m at Edutech Asia, where I meet the school’s five Edtech coaches for the first time. They’re here to find out about the latest programs and trends. The conference’s key theme is how technology can help promote creativity, collaborative ways of working, communication and critical thinking.

Students are busy researching the ‘Geschichte der Philosophie’ on their iPads. As they do so, they discover a wide range of stories which they criticise, compare and contrast.

The teacher uploads 22 recent articles on social issues (the drugs trade, the situation in Syria, expeditions to Mars, depression among young people, etc.) to the students’ iPads. The students pick a topic for a critical text analysis. They’re all highly motivated and on task. .

Year 2 students head eagerly into the computer room to play multimedia arithmetic games – with others or on their own, at their own pace, and choosing their own areas of focus.

The class is planning to work with their parallel class next week to create an online quiz. Some of them want to use iPads, others their smartphones. It’ll be about the book they’re reading at the moment.

The students are using the app ‘Desmos’ to visualise functions.

Year 4 students are out all over the school premises, making short videos with their iPads. Their brief is to interview the head and deputies, the canteen staff and other students. They’re focused and loving what they’re doing.

The students are using their iPads to film one another on the trampoline so they can analyse their technique.

After a digital-free lesson, some students get up and use their smartphones to take a picture of the board.