Day 1: Monday 25th january 2021
KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Frances Valintine
MORNING SESSION 1: Making Mobile Apps with MIT App Inventor
Karen Lang
Inspire your students to become creators of technology rather than passive consumers by creating their own mobile apps. In this hands-on workshop, you will learn about MIT App Inventor, a drag-and-drop programming tool that runs in your computer browser. Within 30 minutes you will be able to create your first mobile app that runs on your phone. Learn about teaching resources for both intermediate and college levels to engage and motivate students to make apps that affect their lives and their community.
MORNING SESSION 2: Gamification approaches to education
DAVE PARRY
“Play is the highest form of research.” – Albert Einstein. What makes a good game (engagement, challenge, novelty) seems like a good fit to what makes a good lesson, but the history of gamification is littered with poorly designed, repetitive and simply boring games. So how do we find and assess Learning games, Serious games, Educational Games and anything that claims to “Make Learning fun”? This demonstration will look at some examples of educational games and ways of choosing (and developing) appropriate games for education and ways of making sure that they support learning for all groups of learners. Dave will also be looking at the practical aspects of fitting games into the curriculum and some of the traps that we should avoid.
MORNING SESSION 3: How the Digital Computer works and what Digital Electronic Does
Kosala Gunawardane
All the impressive accomplishments being performed by the modern digital computers are incredible. But a comment by Lady Ada Lovelace in the 1840’s about Babbage's machine still holds true: "The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform."
If you want to go one step further and explore the hardware underneath the digital computer world; the logical operations in the computer’s arithmetic unit in terms of Boolean Algebra, in an interactive learning environment with modern Digital Electronics teaching tools from National Instruments (NI) with ELVIS III hardware boards, this will be an opportunity for you.
If you want to go one step further and explore the hardware underneath the digital computer world; the logical operations in the computer’s arithmetic unit in terms of Boolean Algebra, in an interactive learning environment with modern Digital Electronics teaching tools from National Instruments (NI) with ELVIS III hardware boards, this will be an opportunity for you.
MORNING SESSION 4: "Getting GitHub" - Transform your Classroom
Jennifer Gottschalk
A hands-on workshop that will equip you to use GitHub with your programming and web design classes. Not only is Git the industry standard for version control, it also allows students to work seamlessly wherever they are. In this session you will learn how you can use GitHub to support your students, go ‘back’ to an older version of working code, easily distribute resources, keep track of student progress and provide direct feedback on student work in real time.
AFTERNOON SESSION 1: Build your first voice application for Amazon Alexa
Jarek Beksa
Learn how to engage your students in designing and developing their first interactive voice application for Amazon Alexa virtual assistant. This interactive workshop will explore the importance of Smart Speakers and virtual assistants (fastest-growing technology, according to Voicebot.ai 75% of households in the US own a smart speaker) and basics of the voice-user interface design. During the workshop, participants will create their first voice application for Amazon Alexa device with minimum coding required.
AFTERNOON SESSION 2: Build a dynamic website with Python and Flask
Tanya Gray
Many senior students use PHP to build their first dynamic website, but did you know you can do the same thing with Python? In this workshop we will use Python along with our existing knowledge of HTML and CSS to make a multi-page website. Flask is a website framework written with Python, which makes this pretty easy to do! For one of our website pages we will add a list of products generated by the Python code, to show how we can generate some repetitive content from data.
This workshop requires prior knowledge of HTML, CSS and Python to the equivalent of Level 2 or Level 3. We'll be coding a little bit of all three languages, but the focus will be on learning new techniques with Python and Flask to run a website.
Flask is considered a "third party or non-core API, library or framework" and so is a valid "complex programming technique" for AS91906 "Use complex programming techniques to develop a computer program" at Level 3.
This workshop requires prior knowledge of HTML, CSS and Python to the equivalent of Level 2 or Level 3. We'll be coding a little bit of all three languages, but the focus will be on learning new techniques with Python and Flask to run a website.
Flask is considered a "third party or non-core API, library or framework" and so is a valid "complex programming technique" for AS91906 "Use complex programming techniques to develop a computer program" at Level 3.
AFTERNOON SESSION 3: Magic touches that turn shocking websites into stunning ones
Alan Kan
Do you need to create websites for your school or students, and wonder how you can make the website look better? In this session, you will learn visual UI design principles and tips to make your website look great. During the session, you will examine a website against design principles. By the end of the session, you will be able to identify where visual UI problems are for shocking websites, and turn them into stunning ones.
AFTERNOON SESSION 4: Robotics is for everyone
Janet Van
In this interactive workshop, Janet and members of the Kiwibots team will showcase how robotics can be implemented into the classroom no matter the age, abilities, and prior knowledge of students. This session will present ideas about how to start introducing robotics and STEM into your school as part of curriculum, what tools are available and the different resources and support networks available to educators in NZ. The workshop will also cover how activities can be extended for advanced learners, integrated into kura kaupapa Māori, alternative programmes to ensure financial accessibility, or how to implement extra-curricular Kiwibots programme to further classroom learning and support teams and schools that choose to take part in the VEX Robotics Competition.
NB: This session is best suited for those with little to moderate confidence in robotics.
NB: This session is best suited for those with little to moderate confidence in robotics.
AFTERNOON SESSION 5: Where do you go after Scratch? Introducing values‐based game design
Kawana Wallace & Maikara Dargaville
Explore game design using flexible and practical 2D (and 3D) game design engines that have easy coding systems and plenty of support. Based on our highly successful 12-week indigenous game design course (for rangatahi aged 11-18yo), OMGTech! brings you the 3-hour express version with NCEA aligned resources you can take into your classrooms straightaway. By collaborating, designing, & creating games, students develop critical competencies within an existing knowledge framework, and have loads of fun doing it!
day 2: tuesday 26th january 2021
KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Te Ara Mahi: A Technology Innovator's Perspective
Kerry Topp
For many students, the path to work (te ara mahi) into the tech sector isn’t always clear and it can be fraught with twists and turns. The hard graft students, and their teachers, put in to get job and career-ready at school and at tertiary institutions, unfortunately, doesn’t always translate to a job in a chosen field on completion of a student’s studies. In this session, Kerry Topp, founder and chief [re]generator of boutique innovation practice The Kerry Topp Collective, will provide you with real-life insights, lessons and tips to help you further empower students to be better prepared for the non-linear nature of the pathway to work in the technology sector.
MORNING SESSION 1: Citizen science in the classroom
Amber Taylor
Ahi Kā Rangers is a mobile game where you balance a living eco-system, create a network of friends and participate in global citizen-science projects. The game incorporates teachings from both modern science and mātauranga Māori and is designed to run alongside school curriculum. By integrating the game into your lessons you can help students develop the confidence to try making observations, collecting data, and exploring the natural world. Gamifying citizen-science makes science more attainable and something that anyone can participate in, regardless of being in an urban or rural environment. This session provides an in-depth look at the Ahi Kā Rangers game platform, insights into the value of data and research at a community level, and opportunity to co-design a citizen science project for your school and inclusion in the Ahi Kā Rangers game.
MORNING SESSION 2: DT&HM Online for NCEA
Rebecca Ronald
The DT&HM Online for NCEA learning modules are free to New Zealand schools. They support students to meet the requirements of eight different NCEA level 1 and 2 achievement standards in the Digital Technologies & Hangarau Matihiko subject area.
The workshop will start with a brief introduction to the resources, then time to explore them. You may choose to work through one or two modules in depth or to have a play with all of them – it’s your choice. A facilitator will be on hand to answer questions.
As well as discovering a new teaching tool to add to your kete, you will find these resources useful in strengthening your own understanding of the achievement standards and the learning behind them.
The workshop will start with a brief introduction to the resources, then time to explore them. You may choose to work through one or two modules in depth or to have a play with all of them – it’s your choice. A facilitator will be on hand to answer questions.
As well as discovering a new teaching tool to add to your kete, you will find these resources useful in strengthening your own understanding of the achievement standards and the learning behind them.
MORNING SESSION 3: Using Tahi Rua Toru Tech to teach DT in your classroom is as easy as 1,2,3!!
Victoria Reille and Joy Keene
An interactive snapshot of Tahi Rua Toru Tech FREE 10week digital tech challenge, providing you the teacher a basic understanding of how to implement the challenge into your classroom whilst having lot's of fun with your students along the way.
MORNING SESSION 4: Plug and Play
Donna Cleveland
This demonstration is an introduction to interactive plug and play options where novices can connect with devices without coding expertise; smart electronics simplified by use of common connectors to make hardware more accessible. During the demonstration participants will be introduced to what plug and play options are and how we can use them, particularly in STEAM projects. We will show you how to design and make a computer controller with everyday conductive materials and make musical circuits with fruits! We will share easy-to-follow teaching guides full of hands-on, low-cost, easy plug and play projects that will inspire students of all ages. Plug and Play allows students an opportunity to create their own way of interfacing with the computer, barriers to learning give way to a world of exploration that is on their terms.
AFTERNOON SESSION 1: Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant Platforms
Jarek Beksa
Learn how to engage your students in designing and developing their first interactive voice application for Amazon Alexa virtual assistant. This interactive workshop will explore the importance of Smart Speakers and virtual assistants (fastest-growing technology, according to Voicebot.ai 75% of households in the US own a smart speaker) and basics of the voice-user interface design. During the workshop, participants will create their first voice application for Amazon Alexa device with minimum coding required.
AFTERNOON SESSION 2: Use SQLite and SQLAlchemy with Python to store and retrieve data
Tanya Gray
Take your Python programs to the next level by working with persistent data! In this workshop we will use Python along with a SQLite database to write a program where our data is saved when we enter it, and can be reloaded the next time the program is run. SQLite is a lightweight database which is stored as an actual file in your project folder, making it very easy to back it up, or to send it to someone else for marking or moderation. SQLAlchemy is a lightweight database which is stored as an actual file in your project folder, making it very easy to back it up, or to send it to someone else for marking or moderation.
This workshop requires prior knowledge of Python, preferably to the equivalent of Level 3, but strong Level 2 knowledge would also be okay. We'll also be writing some basic SQL queries as code. No experience with SQL is required.
SQLAlchemy is considered a "third party or non-core API, library or framework" and it also provides "reading from, or writing to, files or other persistent storage" which are both valid "complex programming techniques" for AS91906 "Use complex programming techniques to develop a computer program" at Level 3.
This workshop requires prior knowledge of Python, preferably to the equivalent of Level 3, but strong Level 2 knowledge would also be okay. We'll also be writing some basic SQL queries as code. No experience with SQL is required.
SQLAlchemy is considered a "third party or non-core API, library or framework" and it also provides "reading from, or writing to, files or other persistent storage" which are both valid "complex programming techniques" for AS91906 "Use complex programming techniques to develop a computer program" at Level 3.
AFTERNOON SESSION 3: Magic touches that turn shocking websites into stunning ones
Alan Kan
Do you need to create websites for your school or students, and wonder how you can make the website look better? In this session, you will learn visual UI design principles and tips to make your website look great. During the session, you will examine a website against design principles. By the end of the session, you will be able to identify where visual UI problems are for shocking websites, and turn them into stunning ones.
AFTERNOON SESSION 4: Robotics is for everyone
Janet Van
In this interactive workshop, Janet and members of the Kiwibots team will showcase how robotics can be implemented into the classroom no matter the age, abilities, and prior knowledge of students. This session will present ideas about how to start introducing robotics and STEM into your school as part of curriculum, what tools are available and the different resources and support networks available to educators in NZ. The workshop will also cover how activities can be extended for advanced learners, integrated into kura kaupapa Māori, alternative programmes to ensure financial accessibility, or how to implement extra-curricular Kiwibots programme to further classroom learning and support teams and schools that choose to take part in the VEX Robotics Competition.
NB: This session is best suited for those with little to moderate confidence in robotics.
NB: This session is best suited for those with little to moderate confidence in robotics.
AFTERNOON SESSION 5: Where do you go after Scratch? Introducing values‐based game design
Kawana Wallace & Maikara Dargaville
Explore game design using flexible and practical 2D (and 3D) game design engines that have easy coding systems and plenty of support. Based on our highly successful 12-week indigenous game design course (for rangatahi aged 11-18yo), OMGTech! brings you the 3-hour express version with NCEA aligned resources you can take into your classrooms straightaway. By collaborating, designing, & creating games, students develop critical competencies within an existing knowledge framework, and have loads of fun doing it!
