Cognition

The 2010 Digital Technologies Symposium has been a fantastic success!

Participants gathered at the Holiday Inn in Auckland for three days of inspiring and informative workshops, keynotes, panel discussions and networking.

The focus of the symposium looked at teaching, learning, assessment and pathways for secondary school digital technology teachers and students and supported the implementation of the new Level 1 Digital Technology Achievement Standards for 2011.

Teachers were able to participate in hands-on, interactive workshops on day three which included amongst others building a PC in a day, programming and manipulating robots and learning industry level skills using such software as Flash, Dreamweaver, Autodesk Inventor and Final Cut Pro.

The positive feedback received is testament to the hard work of the programme committee; Cognition Education, Ministry of Education and NZICT.

In summary, one teacher commented:

'The structure and venue enabled us to make best use of our time and 'network' together. We know where we are, where we are going, how to get there and why!"

The Symposium focused on:

• Building on new qualification opportunities
• Harnessing expertise, resources and successes from Digital Technology education and Technology education
• Promoting engagement of teachers with industry and tertiary technology stakeholders
• Supporting teachers to develop meaningful pathways for students in Digital Technology
• Developing digital technology skills in meaningful contexts for teaching and learning programmes
• Building on the DTG work with schools across regions and acknowledge the successes of this project