Griffith University and Gold Coast TechSpace recently hosted a three-day professional learning program on Computer Science for High School Teachers (CS4HS) with support from IT giant Google.
Thirty teachers from 12 Gold Coast and 7 Brisbane schools attended the Gold Coast campus to participate in the Google CS4HSprogram from 3-5 October.
The teachers who work with students from years 8-12 were immersed in ICT-based hands-on, interactive workshops and seminars to get an in-depth look at robotics and other emerging technologies provided by Griffith University School of Information and Communication Technology specialists on Thursday and Friday before completing a further day’s activities with IT professional at the Gold Coast TechSpace in Robina.
Science and IT teacher at Merrimac State High School Mr Daniel Ricardo said the program was very interactive and he is looking forward to more opportunities for both himself and his students to engage with Griffith’s science community.
“I’m from an IT background myself, so it was great fun for me. It was very hands on experience and I liked that the third year Griffith students got involved too,” said Daniel.
“We have some very academic students in our IT classes and they just eat this stuff up.”
“So we are always looking for ways to expand our teaching programs and the opens us up to more opportunities for collaborating more with the school of ICT here at Griffith, which would be pretty exciting for all of us.”
The aim of the program was to enhance teacher confidence, knowledge and skills in ICT and emerging technologies in order to engage, challenge and inspire students at their schools.
In welcoming the teachers to Griffith, Professor Michael Blumenstein from the School of Information and Communication Technology said it was the ideal opportunity share knowledge between high school, university and professional practices.
“The information technology industry brings in about $42million in investment for Queensland.” Professor Blumenstein said.
“This program is about sharing ideas and practices. We will explore the emerging fields in IT such as robotics, big data and cyber security among others.”
“It is an opportunity for high school teachers to get a taste first hand of what Griffith offers in the IT space that you can share that with your students”.
The teachers were able told take away a programmable robot, an Arduino kit and other resources to support the integration of their new knowledge and skills into their classrooms.
The Gold Coast Schools with teachers in attendance were A.B. Paterson College, Assisi Catholic College, Benowa State High School, Coombabah State High School, Merrimac State High School, Miami State High School, Pimpama State Secondary College, Robina State High School, Somerset College, Southport State High School, St Andrews Lutheran College and Tamborine Mountain College.
The Brisbane Schools that were represented by teachers include Cavendish Road State High School, Centenary State High School, John Paul College, Kelvin Grove State College, MacGregor State High School, Mansfield State High School and St Francis’ College.
The CS4HS teacher professional learning program was proudly sponsored and supported by the Google CS4HS program, Gold Coast TechSpace, Griffith University School of ICT and Griffith Science on the Go!