After numerous challenges with installing the Windows operating system and fixing hardware devices, we finally started to install ChromeOS Flex onto old laptops and turn them into Chromebooks. Today I was able to install ChromeOS Flex onto seven old laptop devices and give them a new lease of life and koha these devices to our students.
Here is what the students said in their own words about what the laptop meant to them.
"It means I can do my work at home "
"It means a lot to me and I feel so special"
"It means I can catch on with my work"
"It means I have a device that I can use anytime without going to see a teacher."
"It means having a way to connect to an almost infinite source of information and entertainment"
This was a great opportunity to connect with educators and the tech industry leaders in the Cook Islands from 08-14 October 2022. The location was fitting for an event like those to enable educators to connect and immerse themselves in the local culture. It was especially nice to meet all the local teachers and visit Apii Te Uki Ou school in Rarotonga. I believe attending and networking are not enough to affect change. For me this is all about:
Connections| Taking Action | Being consistent | Re-connecting
I also delivered an Esports workshop. The slides can be found here.
This was our first hui where the students and teachers in collaboration and support from the Ministry of Education and OMG Tech have been involved at Papakura High to start the process of setting up a STEAM academy. The key stakeholder throughout these meetings is students, aspirations, and vision for their school as youth leaders in this space. Three students were invited to attend the meeting to start this journey. Hearing the year 10 students' ideas and vision for what the Graduate Profile would look like and the positives of implementing STEAM was impressive, to say the least, as they were certainly thinking out of the box.
The seed was sown when students attended the Tech 21 summit last year. The idea of an I.T. Academy came out of this, however, what was needed was a holistic approach and 21st-century thinking, involving the bigger subject areas. It has been my passion to enable students to follow their strengths and do what they enjoy for a living to pursue a career pathway that is simply not just a chore, which also brings about immense joy for the individual.
STEAM @PHS Meetings
STEAM Equity Meeting
Attendees: OMG Tech, MOE, and Teachers from PHS
Date: Sep 1, 2022
Action / Lookup
Main Notes
Academies USA
Hasting Boys Schools
Linfield College
Edgewater College
The research behind this shows great results in the USA and Schools here in NZ
Vision: link in with our values (pou’s) Mana Motuhake (Student Agency) in control of their learning have the self-efficacy to believe in themselves to reach their untapped potential
Why is this important:
Pathways to Employment
Working on what students enjoy
Academies:
Trades
STEAM
Business
I.T.
Engineering
Science
Service
Student's voice:
Resourcing:
Devices
Support (Coordination, Literacy, and numeracy)
Future proof and sustainability
Building resilience and capability
Common skills
Barriers:
Whanau engagement
Awareness of school projects
Inclusivity
Businesses (Engineering,
Career Exposure
Discover true passion
Work on Students' strengths and their interests
Community Focused
Graduate profile
Pathways to careers
Opportunities to explore all areas
Opportunities to participate in mock interviews, field trips and
Soft skills:
Critical thinkers, Collaborators, Presentations, communication
Wide range of careers -
Wellbeing and self-care - Help Heal and Serve
Hasting Boys Schools - Academies based on the Trades Academy approach
Some schools still have both options with traditional learning and opt into programs such as Edge Innovation Programme
Kura High Rocket League Competition on 20th August 2022
This past weekend, Kura High hosted its first ever Esports competition for Rocket League on the 20th of August and the whole event was streamed live on Twitch. We had seven teams from all age groups a total of 21 students, from Papakura High, Rosehill College, and Ardmore School. Rosehill students took 1st prize and our students took 2nd and 3rd Prizes of $850 plus some spot prizes for the runners-up. There was a buzz in the hall and the excitement on the student's faces was priceless! In one team there were two girls who won the 3rd prize and had only played the game once! Students got involved in hospitality, Kura high film crew filmed the whole event. Students got involved in shoutcasting (broadcasting their commentary).
Mr. Singh spent over a year planning this event. Prior to this event, students had already attended two competitions for the Rocket League in Invercargill and Halo Infinite at Armageddon, Auckland.
Well done to our winners and to every team that entered and gave it their best!
The event was a huge success in that it brought young people of all ages together of all ethnicities, cultures, and genders. This is one area esports is accessible to all who participate and attend. This was a community event as we had invited schools from Pukekohe High, Manurewa High, James Cook High, Alfriston College, and Rosehill College to enter. Students from other schools happened to be in the school for their weekly music lessons and heard all about our esports event, so they popped in to experience the atmosphere and see what all the fuss was about!
The students are now keen to help host the next esports competition in term four.
The technology department is running the following clubs at Papakura High School: Coding, Esports, RAD (Recycle a Device) and Filming Club.
kura High Filming Club
We have Mrs Imlach who is facilitating during the weekly club sessions. Students have written a script for a horror film due to be released shortly. Caden Awhitu was fortunate to win the best drama award for Maorilands Rangatahi Films.
Caden Awhitu
Other short films include: Samoan Language week, Whanua sports day and the school promotional video.
A year and half in the making from thinking about esports to now putting things into action for our rangatahi is an amazing milestone for the school thus an opportunity to take 9 students to Invercargill to compete in a Rocket League comp. We came 9th and 10th and took home $500 prize money. 4 students took it upon themselves to also compete at the Halo Infinite comp. These students came 12th out of 35, a great achievement considering this was their first-ever esports comp! Rangatahi have been regularly practising during morning tea and lunch and they want to now host a Rocket League comp on the 20th of August for students at PHS. We are receiving guidance from Microsoft to ensure the event runs smoothly.
Launching Esports
RAD - Recycle a Device
The club has been dormant since the students received their initial training at the start of term one from remojo Tech and their team in partnership with RAD. Students, Julian Abel and Satchet Singh received refresher training. We are in a position to launch the RAD club Thursday 7th July. Club members will have the opportunity to take ownership of their designated roles, understand the club goal and receive some prizes for the students sent to us from Bronwyn Scott from RAD.
Coding Club
The weekly coding club has been running every week, with interested students attending and learning to code through game-based coding such as Minecraft. Some students have been practising their Python coding on the Grok website and some younger students from Intermediate and Primary have been coding using the Scratch platform.
Rangatahi from Papakura High attended the TECH22 summit on the 30th of June: The exhibitors were from Microsoft, Trademe, Tesla, She#, 3 Bags Full, Weta, Datacom, Engineering and construction, Media Design School, Geo A.R Games, Kiwa, Holmes and Amazon. Kura students enjoyed talking with the Tech industry as well as the opportunity to sit in a newly released Tesla and had a demonstration of VR (virtual reality) gadgets used in the construction industry. Some of our rangatahi are now considering a career in Tech!
