Education Leaders Program / Bill Gillespie

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

Bill Gillespie is currently deputy principal at Kanwal Public School, a large primary school on the Central Coast in New South Wales. He is a member of the Hunter/Central T4L team responsible for regional professional development of teachers in the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) into teaching and learning.

Gillespie has a long history in ICT, beginning with tape-driven Microbees in the early 1980s. In addition to his innovative work in the area of teaching and learning, he has administered Novell, Windows®, and Apple networks. While at Wyoming Public School, he mentored a team of students that won the first Australian School's Web Design Competition.

In 2000, Gillespie was seconded to the Learning Technologies Unit at Curriculum Support Directorate, where he was asked to develop the Annual Schools Web Design Awards and create the competition's website. His work on this Internet project included developing and managing the Directorate's website, managing and developing student Internet projects, assisting Directorate Units in web design and CD development, and monitoring and managing the NSW Department of Education and Training's Internet filter. He was also involved in the statewide Network Administration program and Consistent Teacher Judgment Online.

In 2004, Gillespie returned to school at Seaforth Public School, where he worked with Webqem, Seaforth, and Mosman school communities to develop their school websites. During this time, he wrote for Encyclopedia Britannica Online, developed a CD for Mosman High School's Writing Toolkit, and supported Mosman teachers in the use of ICT.

Since arriving at Kanwal, Gillespie has worked with the Wallarah Local Management Group to develop a digital resource to assist teachers to help students in year 3 and year 5 who do not meet the National Benchmarks in Numeracy. He developed a regional website to assist students with transition, an online book as part of Wadalba Community School's transition program. He is currently redeveloping the Kanwal Public School website.

Gillespie has been a software reviewer for a number of publications such as Education (the Journal of the NSW Teacher's Federation), Edsoft, Dataflow, and New Horizons for over 13 years. He has extensive experience using Adobe® Dreamweaver®, Fireworks®, Photoshop® Elements, Adobe Premiere® Elements, and Visual Communicator® software.

Gillespie is a seasoned presenter who has broad experience presenting to a range of audiences including professional associations, university students, teachers, education officers, and students. He has presented for a number of companies including Edsoft, Macromedia, Adobe, and Scholastic New Media.

Publications

Education — the Journal of the NSW Teachers Federation