Hi all,
John here. I was talking with some teachers last week about ways to really bring Young ICT Explorers to life. A great idea that came up was to bring industry professionals into the school environment and work with students to explain the full potential of the technology they are working with.
I’m a big believer that one of the strongest ways to fast track learning is to engage students with people that work with the technology for a living. This insight gives students a lot of context, showcases potential careers and builds on the initial information teachers have provided in class. Its also a lot of fun and brings new personalities into the learning environment.
Talk with students about their projects to understand what skills they need most – do they need someone to help with coding (could you approach the local university?), are they developing an app (approach the local startup hub or design team), are they looking for user interface/graphics support, are they building a web design. Once you know what they’re up to then you can reach out to your local parent community, industry associations, universities or companies.
Where to start?
Put a notice in your school newsletter asking for parents with technology backgrounds to become involved in supporting the students’ projects
