EducateIT 2023

In partnership of the Gold Coast chapter of the Queensland Society for Information Technology in Education (QSITE), Gold Coast EducateIT, and Griffith University, EducateIT 2023 is a one-day conference for teachers and leaders in school computer education.

The conference will be held on the Griffith University Gold Coast Campus on Saturday 25 November 2023 from 9:00am to 5:00pm followed by a conference buffet dinner incorporating the Gold Coast Schools Digital Technologies awards finishing at 7pm.

EducateIT 2023 incorporates presentations and workshops on the primary and junior secondary Digital Technologies curriculum, the senior secondary Digital Solutions and ICT curricula, the teaching of Digital Literacy, and the integration of educational technologies throughout the curriculum, including VR, eSports, robotics and AI.

EducateIT conferences are focused on developing the capabilities of educators through the development of practical activities and a deeper understanding of approaches to computer education in schools.

Registration for EducateIT 2023 is $75, including morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, with a 33% discount (to $50) for members of QSITE, GCEduTech, and Griffith University students & staff, as well as for presenters. Attendance at the award ceremony only (from 5pm including dinner) is available for $30. Registration with QSITE Membership is available for $145 (membership usually $99) and $60 for students (membership usually $14).

Sharable Links: https://bit.ly/educateIT2023

Registration: https://www.trybooking.com/CMDKD

Call for Presenters: https://bit.ly/educateIT2023presenter (Closed 31 Oct)

Call for Sponsors: https://bit.ly/educateIT2023sponsor

Register

Registration: https://www.trybooking.com/CMDKD

$75 (includes morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner)

$50 discounted registration for QSITE financial members, EducateIT board, Griffith University students & staff and presenters. Includes morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner

$145 registration with QSITE Membership (personal membership usually $99). Participants will be assisted by the team to set up QSITE membership after registration. Includes morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.

$60 Student registration with QSITE Membership.(student membership is usually $14). Participants will be assisted by the team to set up QSITE membership after registration. Includes morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.

$30 attendance at the award ceremony only. From 5 pm including dinner.

Program

Primary
Strand

G30 Room 1.11

Junior
Strand

G30 Room 1.12

Senior
Strand

G30 Room 1.13

8.30 am Registration Open

9 am Opening

EducateIT,
Griffith University
and QSITE

9.30 am Keynote

The Future of Computer Education in Schools

Keep up to date with international, national, Queensland and teacher education trends in computer education followed by an analysis of the trends, challenges and impacts of educational technologies on education.

Dr Jason Zagami

10.30 am Morning Tea

11 am Session 1

Building Digital Literacies through Creative Learning on iPad (Part 1)

Join us for a hands-on and creative workshop experience as we explore how iPad can support your students Digital Literacy skills across a range of curriculum areas. Attendees will walk away with resources and inspiration, as well as deeper understanding of how purposeful and creative use of iPad in our primary classrooms can support students with building skills around digital safety & wellbeing, communication & collaboration, investigating, creating and managing & operating.

Rachel Minns

Future Proofing the Digital Technologies Curriculum

(Part 1)

Insights on how we backward mapped our digital curriculum from year 12 to year 7. Technologies. Unit plans, teaching sequences, assessment materials, student responses and a bucket load of curated resources will be provided.

Kerry Batt and Linda Clark

Game Design with Godot (Part 1)

Godot is a cross-platform, free and open-source game engine released under the permissive MIT license. This hands-on workshop will help you to become familiar with the Godot IDE and take you through the setup of a basic game that could be taught as part of coding in a digital technologies class.

Craig Kerwin

11.30 am Session 2

Building Digital Literacies through Creative Learning on iPad (Part 2)

Join us for a hands-on and creative workshop experience as we explore how iPad can support your students Digital Literacy skills across a range of curriculum areas. Attendees will walk away with resources and inspiration, as well as deeper understanding of how purposeful and creative use of iPad in our primary classrooms can support students with building skills around digital safety & wellbeing, communication & collaboration, investigating, creating and managing & operating.

Rachel Minns

Future Proofing the Digital Technologies Curriculum

(Part 2)

Insights on how we backward mapped our digital curriculum from year 12 to year 7. Technologies. Unit plans, teaching sequences, assessment materials, student responses and a bucket load of curated resources will be provided.

Kerry Batt and Linda Clark

Game Design with Godot (Part 2)

Godot is a cross-platform, free and open-source game engine released under the permissive MIT license. This hands-on workshop will help you to become familiar with the Godot IDE and take you through the setup of a basic game that could be taught as part of coding in a digital technologies class.

Craig Kerwin

12 pm Session 3

Inspiring Emerging Technologies in Australian Education

Get inspired as we delve into the transformative power of emerging technologies suitable for Australian education. Discover the latest trends, tools, and real-world examples that are reshaping technology practices, skills and industry applications. In this informative session – we will explore 8x leading technologies including AI, AR, VR and cutting-edge software applications, with a focus on classroom integration and strategies.

Rashan Senanayake

Digital Technologies vs Digital Literacy

In a curriculum where acronyms are aplenty, come along to find out the difference between DT and DL in the new world of Australian Curriculum v9.

Kylie Mathers

Coding with Godot

Godot is a cross-platform, free and open-source game engine released under the permissive MIT license. Godot allows video game developers to create 3D and 2D games using multiple programming languages, such as C++, C# and GDScript. It makes use of a hierarchy of nodes to facilitate the development experience. Transitioning from Python to Godot is quite straightforward, with Godot lending itself nicely to future coding in Unity. All game resources, including scripts and graphical assets, are saved as part of the computer's file system (rather than in a database). This storage solution is intended to facilitate collaboration between game development teams using software version control systems. This makes it ideal for coding and game development in either Digital Solutions or Information and Communication Technologies.

Craig Kerwin

12.30 pm Lunch

1 pm Session 4

Book Creator

An informative presentation that explores the transformative potential of Book Creator in fostering student engagement among primary students across the curriculum, particularly lower literacy students. This presentation has special emphasis on the Australian Curriculum's C2C English framework. Facilitated by a rural primary school arts and technologies teacher, this session aims to showcase practical strategies, innovative approaches, and real-life success stories to inspire educators seeking to invigorate and differentiate their teaching and assessment tasks.

Annabelle Kent

What’s new at Grok?

Grok Academy began by creating courses to enthuse students into coding, NCSS Challenges and Python. Present-day Grok is becoming so much more, with some little gems you may be able to use in your classes, and free for all Queensland students. Come along to see what is new in the world of Grok for 2023.

Kylie Mathers

Python Flask

Using Python Flask for Digital Solutions

Christopher Crane

1.30 pm Session 5

Do Your :bit Challenge (Micro:Bit)

Discover how the 'Do Your :bit Challenge' can be integrated into either a school club or the classroom. Explore resources and its alignment to curriculum through the design cycle and its implementation through the QLearn online platform. This session offers an overview of the challenge, showing you ways to incorporate it within educational settings for an enriching experience.

Christiana Moore

VR Projects for Digital Literacy and Design Thinking

(Part 1)

Through my leadership of Digital Literacy and Design Thinking, five projects were completed that have given students a range of digital literacy capabilities. These projects included creating websites (Google Sites), Augmented Reality (AR MKR), iMovie, Toontastic and Beebots. At the beginning of the Term 2 Augmented Reality project, students were unfamiliar with the iPad application, AR MKR, at the completion of the project, 100% of students were confident in using the application and applying it to other key learning areas. It has been observed in digital literacy lessons, students in my class worked at a faster rate due to the increased digital literacy capabilities that they had acquired during the various projects. They have become accustomed to using technology, enhancing the digital capabilities of digital creation, digital collaboration and digital innovation while supporting their reading and literacy skills. If time permits, I will share some of my resources on Drone Videography and Gamification. Key Takeaways: 1. Expose students to technology early and give them plenty of opportunity to experiment. 2. Use various applications and an immersive strategy. 3. Allow students to showcase their creations with each other and in wider contexts 3. Back what you are implementing with research so you can prove it is evidence based and effective.

Julie Taylor

Gesture-based programming
(Part 1)

Learn the basics of gesture based programming. Use Mediapipe to place landmarks on your face and be able to play a hands free Chrome Dino game.

Jason Vearing

2 pm Session 6

Micro:bit Playtime in the Foyer

Explore how to program and use a Micro:Bit

Jenni Fewtrell

Unpacking a holistic approach to High School Esports and School Culture

Join Mark Mendez-Cortes as he presents holistic approach to Esports culture in a High School setting as well as unpacking how esports empower school communities.

Mark Mendez-Cortes

VR Projects for Digital Literacy and Design Thinking

(Part 2)

Through my leadership of Digital Literacy and Design Thinking, five projects were completed that have given students a range of digital literacy capabilities. These projects included creating websites (Google Sites), Augmented Reality (AR MKR), iMovie, Toontastic and Beebots. At the beginning of the Term 2 Augmented Reality project, students were unfamiliar with the iPad application, AR MKR, at the completion of the project, 100% of students were confident in using the application and applying it to other key learning areas. It has been observed in digital literacy lessons, students in my class worked at a faster rate due to the increased digital literacy capabilities that they had acquired during the various projects. They have become accustomed to using technology, enhancing the digital capabilities of digital creation, digital collaboration and digital innovation while supporting their reading and literacy skills. If time permits, I will share some of my resources on Drone Videography and Gamification. Key Takeaways: 1. Expose students to technology early and give them plenty of opportunity to experiment. 2. Use various applications and an immersive strategy. 3. Allow students to showcase their creations with each other and in wider contexts 3. Back what you are implementing with research so you can prove it is evidence based and effective.

Julie Taylor

Gesture-based programming
(Part 2)

Learn the basics of gesture based programming. Use Mediapipe to place landmarks on your face and be able to play a hands free Chrome Dino game.

Jason Vearing

2.30 pm Afternoon Tea

3 pm Session 7

Design Thinking – Start early, start now.

(Part 1)

This session will endeavour to explain each of the concepts along with ways to teach them so that your classes can become the creators of the future.

Kylie Mathers

AI and ethics in education

(Part 1)

Provoking considerations of the ethical implications of AI on education by exploring three levels of ethics: immediate impacts on practices, implications for learning, and concluding with considerations of the ethics of limiting the development of AI.

Jason Zagami

Esports in Education - a beginner's Journey

A beginning teacher shares his learnings about eSports in Education learned over the preceding 8 months being thrust into the role of eSports coach.

Dean Cobler

3.30 pm Session 8

Design Thinking – Start early, start now.

(Part 2)

This session will endeavour to explain each of the concepts along with ways to teach them so that your classes can become the creators of the future.

Kylie Mathers

AI and ethics in education

(Part 2)

Discussion on the ethical implications of AI on education

Jason Zagami

NASEF Scholastic Fellow Program

Educators implementing esports-infused curricula are pioneers. NASEF's Fellows program creates a community of like-minded teachers who share ideas and best practices for the best ways to connect learning to student interests through esports. Hear from Craig Kerwin, a current Australian NASEF Fellow, about the professional learning community, resources and professional learning available to educators through NASEF.

Craig Kerwin

4 pm Panel

Panel on esports in Schools

4:30 pm Panel

Panel on AI in Schools

5 pm Dinner

Conference Dinner

5.30 pm Prizes

Sponsors Prize Give Aways

6 pm Awards

Gold Coast Schools Digital Technologies Awards

7 pm Close

Session Details

Keynote The Future of Computer Education in Schools
(9:30 am - 10:30 am)

The Future of Computer Education in Schools Keynote

Keep up to date with international, national, Queensland and teacher education trends in computer education followed by an analysis of the trends, challenges and impacts of educational technologies on education.

Presenters

Dr Jason Zagami is a senior lecturer in the School of Education and Professional Studies of Griffith University on the Gold Coast, where he teaches and conducts research on educational technologies with a focus on identification of emerging trends, educational gaming, student co-creation of secondary worlds, AI applications in teaching, neural/cognitive activity measurement; and Computer Science Education (K12) with a focus on curriculum implementation approaches and higher-order thinking skill development.

Jason has used and taught about AI in education since 1996 and coauthored international studies on the implications of artificial intelligence for education, presenting the COSN Driving K12 Education Report focus on AI in 2022 and was the Australian representative to the AI in Education working group at EduSummit19.

He has received Outstanding National Achievement by a Teacher and Queensland Computer Educator of the Year awards. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Certified Innovator, and has been a member of the ACS ICT Educators board, president of the Australian Council for Computers in Education (ACCE), president of the Queensland Society for Information Technology in Education (QSITE), editor of the Australian Educational Computing (AEC) journal, and president of the Australian College of Educators (Gold Coast region).

Session 1 Building Digital Literacies through Creative Learning on iPad Future Proofing Your Digi Curriculum (Years 12-7) Game Design with Godot
(11 am - 11:30 am)

Building Digital Literacies through Creative Learning on iPad

Join us for a hands-on and creative workshop experience as we explore how iPad can support your students Digital Literacy skills across a range of curriculum areas. Attendees will walk away with resources and inspiration, as well as deeper understanding of how purposeful and creative use of iPad in our primary classrooms can support students with building skills around digital safety & wellbeing, communication & collaboration, investigating, creating and managing & operating.

Presenters

Rachel Minns, Apple Professional Learning Specialist. Rachel Minns is an innovative early years teacher, passionate about integrating purposeful and age-appropriate use of technology in the classroom. As an Apple Professional Learning Specialist, Rachel works with educators to amplify children’s voice and agency through technology, sparking wonder and creativity in our young learners.

Participant requirements

iPad (a limited number of devices will available), with Keynote installed.

Future Proofing Your Digi Curriculum (Years 12-7) (Introductory / Junior and Senior Secondary) Two session workshop

Insights on how we backward mapped our digital curriculum from year 12 to year 7. From 12 Digital Solutions to 7 Digital Technologies. Unit plans, teaching sequences, assessment materials, student responses and a bucket load of curated resources will be provided. A copy of our planning,Year 12 learning plan for students and an overview of our year 10 digital technologies breakdown for students. We also hope to share curated resources we have on our Moodle page.

Presenters

Kerry Batt and Linda Clark from Hillbrook Anglican School in Brisbane

Linda Clark – Digital technologies and Digital Solutions

Scottish-trained digital teacher with a robust background in education. With a degree in Computer Science and over three decades of classroom experience, I've been contributing to the educational landscape in independent schools across SE Queensland for the past 20 years.

My approach is straightforward and practical, with a focus on essential strategies. Specifically, I hone in on Project-Based Learning, task scaffolding, and skill building. If you're eager for direct insights into Hilbrook's digital curriculum, I invite you to join us. Let's explore together how we can enhance the digital learning experience.

Kerry Batt – Digital Technologies, Digital Solutions & Psychology

Enthusiastic digital education teacher with a wealth of experience! I hold a Master's in IT Education and bring over 30 years of teaching expertise in both NSW and Qld. For the past 12 years, I've been proudly contributing to the vibrant learning community at Hillbrook School. My journey includes impactful roles at Bradfield Senior College, Northern Sydney Institute of TAFE, and Sydney University education faculty. As an author of the NSW textbook, Senior High School Information Technology, I'm passionate about sharing knowledge. My focus lies in empowering new and beginning teachers while providing unwavering support in digital education pedagogy and practice.

Participant requirements

Laptop with internet access

Game Design with Godot (Introductory / Junior and Senior Secondary) Two session workshop

Godot is a cross-platform, free and open-source game engine released under the permissive MIT license. This hands-on workshop will help you to become familiar with the Godot IDE and take you through the setup of a basic game that could be taught as part of coding in a digital technologies class.

Presenter

Craig Kerwin. Senior Educator - Diploma in Esports QUT College | AFHEA (Indigenous) | ADE 2017 | NASEF Scholastic Fellow In 2022, Craig was employed as a Senior Educator at QUT College in Kelvin Grove where he has engineered and led the development and delivery of the university's Diploma in Esports, an AQF Level 5 Diploma (tertiary) qualification. Prior to commencing at QUT, Craig had an extensive and multifaceted career in education, which included classroom teaching, various Head of Department roles, and deputy and principal leadership roles. He has been passionate about the use of technologies in the curriculum since the early 90s, with curriculum documentation published in 1999. In 2017 he was recognised by Apple as an Apple Distinguished Educator for his implementation of a school-wide Apple-learning environment for the students in his school. Craig has not only taught digital technologies across all year levels, including the successful delivery of a Certificate IV in Multimedia in 2004 to Year 11 and 12 students, but he has also created several software packages and iPad applications, and more recently published materials on augmented reality and coding. Craig enjoys playing Assetta Corso, as long as he is driving a Nissan GT-3, Rocket League, and more recently Mario Kart and Mario Wonder on his Nintendo Switch.

Participant requirements

Laptop, Godot 4 (https://godotengine.org) Godot MacOS Download Godot Win Download Godot Resources Kenney's Assets (https://www.kenney.nl/assets) - Interface Sounds, Simplified Platformer Pack

Session 2 Building Digital Literacies through Creative Learning on iPad Future Proofing Your Digi Curriculum (Years 12-7) Game Design with Godot (11:30 am - 12:00 pm)

Building Digital Literacies through Creative Learning on iPad

Join us for a hands-on and creative workshop experience as we explore how iPad can support your students Digital Literacy skills across a range of curriculum areas. Attendees will walk away with resources and inspiration, as well as deeper understanding of how purposeful and creative use of iPad in our primary classrooms can support students with building skills around digital safety & wellbeing, communication & collaboration, investigating, creating and managing & operating.

Presenters

Rachel Minns, Apple Professional Learning Specialist. Rachel Minns is an innovative early years teacher, passionate about integrating purposeful and age-appropriate use of technology in the classroom. As an Apple Professional Learning Specialist, Rachel works with educators to amplify children’s voice and agency through technology, sparking wonder and creativity in our young learners.

Participant requirements

iPad (a limited number of devices will available), with Keynote installed.

Future Proofing Your Digi Curriculum (Years 12-7) (Introductory / Junior and Senior Secondary) Two session workshop

Insights on how we backward mapped our digital curriculum from year 12 to year 7. From 12 Digital Solutions to 7 Digital Technologies. Unit plans, teaching sequences, assessment materials, student responses and a bucket load of curated resources will be provided. A copy of our planning,Year 12 learning plan for students and an overview of our year 10 digital technologies breakdown for students. We also hope to share curated resources we have on our Moodle page.

Presenters

Kerry Batt and Linda Clark from Hillbrook Anglican School in Brisbane

Linda Clark – Digital technologies and Digital Solutions

Scottish-trained digital teacher with a robust background in education. With a degree in Computer Science and over three decades of classroom experience, I've been contributing to the educational landscape in independent schools across SE Queensland for the past 20 years.

My approach is straightforward and practical, with a focus on essential strategies. Specifically, I hone in on Project-Based Learning, task scaffolding, and skill building. If you're eager for direct insights into Hilbrook's digital curriculum, I invite you to join us. Let's explore together how we can enhance the digital learning experience.

Kerry Batt – Digital Technologies, Digital Solutions & Psychology

Enthusiastic digital education teacher with a wealth of experience! I hold a Master's in IT Education and bring over 30 years of teaching expertise in both NSW and Qld. For the past 12 years, I've been proudly contributing to the vibrant learning community at Hillbrook School. My journey includes impactful roles at Bradfield Senior College, Northern Sydney Institute of TAFE, and Sydney University education faculty. As an author of the NSW textbook, Senior High School Information Technology, I'm passionate about sharing knowledge. My focus lies in empowering new and beginning teachers while providing unwavering support in digital education pedagogy and practice.

Participant requirements

Laptop with internet access

Game Design with Godot (Introductory / Junior and Senior Secondary) Two session workshop

Godot is a cross-platform, free and open-source game engine released under the permissive MIT license. This hands-on workshop will help you to become familiar with the Godot IDE and take you through the setup of a basic game that could be taught as part of coding in a digital technologies class.

Presenter

Craig Kerwin. Senior Educator - Diploma in Esports QUT College | AFHEA (Indigenous) | ADE 2017 | NASEF Scholastic Fellow In 2022, Craig was employed as a Senior Educator at QUT College in Kelvin Grove where he has engineered and led the development and delivery of the university's Diploma in Esports, an AQF Level 5 Diploma (tertiary) qualification. Prior to commencing at QUT, Craig had an extensive and multifaceted career in education, which included classroom teaching, various Head of Department roles, and deputy and principal leadership roles. He has been passionate about the use of technologies in the curriculum since the early 90s, with curriculum documentation published in 1999. In 2017 he was recognised by Apple as an Apple Distinguished Educator for his implementation of a school-wide Apple-learning environment for the students in his school. Craig has not only taught digital technologies across all year levels, including the successful delivery of a Certificate IV in Multimedia in 2004 to Year 11 and 12 students, but he has also created several software packages and iPad applications, and more recently published materials on augmented reality and coding. Craig enjoys playing Assetta Corso, as long as he is driving a Nissan GT-3, Rocket League, and more recently Mario Kart and Mario Wonder on his Nintendo Switch.

Participant requirements

Laptop, Godot 4 (https://godotengine.org) Godot MacOS Download Godot Win Download Godot Resources Kenney's Assets (https://www.kenney.nl/assets) - Interface Sounds, Simplified Platformer Pack

Session 3 Inspiring Emerging Technologies in Australian Education Digital Technologies vs Digital Literacy Programming with Godot
(12:00 pm - 12:30 pm)

Inspiring Emerging Technologies in Australian Education (Introductory / Lower and Upper Primary, Junior and Senior Secondary)

Get inspired as we delve into the transformative power of emerging technologies suitable for Australian education. Discover the latest trends, tools, and real-world examples that are reshaping technology practices, skills and industry applications. In this informative session – we will explore 8x leading technologies including AI, AR, VR and cutting-edge software applications, with a focus on classroom integration and strategies.

Presenter

Rashan Senanayake is the founder and CEO of Inspired Education Australia.

https://rashansenanayake.com/about/

Participant requirements

Laptop

Digital Technologies vs Digital Literacy (Introductory / Lower and Upper Primary, Junior Secondary)

In a curriculum where acronyms are aplenty, come along to find out the difference between DT and DL in the new world of Australian Curriculum v9.

Presenter

Kylie is a secondary teacher with over 30 years’ experience in Queensland schools, including digital technologies, STEAM and digital solutions. She has worked as team leader within technologies in a secondary school context, across both Digital and Design learning areas. Kylie has worked with Queensland College of Teachers as HAT and LEAD teacher Assessor for QCEC and Queensland Assessment and Curriculum Authority as Endorser, Confirmer, Marker, and School Approver. Volunteer roles include speaker at Pycon and tutor with Girls Programming Network. Her passion to inspire and empower students for the opportunities for the future ensures she is always seeking to understand developments in technology, pedagogy and curriculum.

Participant requirements

Digital Device

Programming with Godot (Introductory / Junior and Senior Secondary Secondary)

Godot is a cross-platform, free and open-source game engine released under the permissive MIT license. Godot allows video game developers to create 3D and 2D games using multiple programming languages, such as C++, C# and GDScript. It makes use of a hierarchy of nodes to facilitate the development experience. Transitioning from Python to Godot is quite straightforward, with Godot lending itself nicely to future coding in Unity. All game resources, including scripts and graphical assets, are saved as part of the computer's file system (rather than in a database). This storage solution is intended to facilitate collaboration between game development teams using software version control systems. This makes it ideal for coding and game development in either Digital Solutions or Information and Communication Technologies.

Presenter

Craig Kerwin. Senior Educator - Diploma in Esports QUT College | AFHEA (Indigenous) | ADE 2017 | NASEF Scholastic Fellow In 2022, Craig was employed as a Senior Educator at QUT College in Kelvin Grove where he has engineered and led the development and delivery of the university's Diploma in Esports, an AQF Level 5 Diploma (tertiary) qualification. Prior to commencing at QUT, Craig had an extensive and multifaceted career in education, which included classroom teaching, various Head of Department roles, and deputy and principal leadership roles. He has been passionate about the use of technologies in the curriculum since the early 90s, with curriculum documentation published in 1999. In 2017 he was recognised by Apple as an Apple Distinguished Educator for his implementation of a school-wide Apple-learning environment for the students in his school. Craig has not only taught digital technologies across all year levels, including the successful delivery of a Certificate IV in Multimedia in 2004 to Year 11 and 12 students, but he has also created several software packages and iPad applications, and more recently published materials on augmented reality and coding. Craig enjoys playing Assetta Corso, as long as he is driving a Nissan GT-3, Rocket League, and more recently Mario Kart and Mario Wonder on his Nintendo Switch.

Participant requirements

Laptop, Godot 4 (https://godotengine.org) Godot MacOS Download Godot Win Download Godot Resources

Session 4 Book Creator What’s new at Grok? Python Flask
(1:00 pm - 1:30 pm)

Book Creator (Introductory / Lower and Upper Primary)

An informative presentation that explores the transformative potential of Book Creator in fostering student engagement among primary students across the curriculum, particularly lower literacy students. This presentation has special emphasis on the Australian Curriculum's C2C English framework. Facilitated by a rural primary school arts and technologies teacher, this session aims to showcase practical strategies, innovative approaches, and real-life success stories to inspire educators seeking to invigorate and differentiate their teaching and assessment tasks.

Presenter

Annabelle Kent, Emerald North State School. Annabelle is a dedicated arts and technology educator in Central Queensland, blending creativity and innovation. Community theater enthusiast and retro gaming aficionado, passionate about integrating ICT capabilities throughout the Australian Curriculum.

Participant requirements

Laptops/note taking devices

What’s new at Grok? (Introductory / Upper Primary, Junior Secondary, Senior Secondary) Two session workshop

Grok Academy began by creating courses to enthuse students into coding, NCSS Challenges and Python. Present-day Grok is becoming so much more, with some little gems you may be able to use in your classes, and free for all Queensland students. Come along to see what is new in the world of Grok for 2023.

Presenter

Kylie is a secondary teacher with over 30 years’ experience in Queensland schools, including digital technologies, STEAM and digital solutions. She has worked as team leader within technologies in a secondary school context, across both Digital and Design learning areas. Kylie has worked with Queensland College of Teachers as HAT and LEAD teacher Assessor for QCEC and Queensland Assessment and Curriculum Authority as Endorser, Confirmer, Marker, and School Approver. Volunteer roles include speaker at Pycon and tutor with Girls Programming Network. Her passion to inspire and empower students for the opportunities for the future ensures she is always seeking to understand developments in technology, pedagogy and curriculum.

Participant requirements

Laptop

Python Flask (Advanced / Senior Secondary Secondary) One session workshop

Using Python Flask for Digital Solutions

Presenter

Christopher Crane, Ambrose Treacy College

Participant

Laptop

Session 5 Do Your:bit Challenge (Micro:Bit). VR Projects for Digital Literacy and Design Thinking. Gesture-based programming.
(1:30 pm - 2:00 pm)

Do Your :bit Challenge (Micro:Bit) (Introductory / Upper Primary, Junior Secondary)

Discover how the 'Do Your :bit Challenge' can be integrated into either a school club or the classroom. Explore resources and its alignment to curriculum through the design cycle and its implementation through the QLearn online platform. This session offers an overview of the challenge, showing you ways to incorporate it within educational settings for an enriching experience.

Presenter

Christiana Moore, Helensvale State High School, is an educator with a passion for science and technology, holding a bachelor of Secondary Education, from Griffith University. As a dedicated Teacher and Head of Department for Science at Helensvale State High School, Christiana endeavours to cultivate a love for STEM education. Her commitment to promoting STEM is exemplified by her role as STEM Girl Power Teacher for the South East Region. Christiana is also a Teacher of Digital Technologies, empowering students with essential digital skills.

Participant requirements

Laptops for anyone wanting to follow along on the Mirco:bit website

VR Projects for Digital Literacy and Design Thinking (Introductory / Lower and Upper Primary, Junior Secondary Secondary) Two session workshop

Through my leadership of Digital Literacy and Design Thinking, five projects were completed that have given students a range of digital literacy capabilities. These projects included creating websites (Google Sites), Augmented Reality (AR MKR), iMovie, Toontastic and Beebots. At the beginning of the Term 2 Augmented Reality project, students were unfamiliar with the iPad application, AR MKR, at the completion of the project, 100% of students were confident in using the application and applying it to other key learning areas. It has been observed in digital literacy lessons, students in my class worked at a faster rate due to the increased digital literacy capabilities that they had acquired during the various projects. They have become accustomed to using technology, enhancing the digital capabilities of digital creation, digital collaboration and digital innovation while supporting their reading and literacy skills. If time permits, I will share some of my resources on Drone Videography and Gamification. Key Takeaways: 1. Expose students to technology early and give them plenty of opportunity to experiment. 2. Use various applications and an immersive strategy. 3. Allow students to showcase their creations with each other and in wider contexts 3. Back what you are implementing with research so you can prove it is evidence based and effective.

Presenter

Julie Taylor, from Pymble Public School and Charles Sturt University, is a passionate classroom teacher and Technology POD Leader who authentically integrates technology and innovation into daily school life. She applies her academic interests of Digital Pedagogy and Technology Integration into the classroom environment, facilitating Augmented Reality and website design projects with her Year 2 students. Julie has a strong background in Technology in Education having earnt her school the Becta ICT Mark while undertaking the role as Technology Leader in the UK and working as an Education Consultant during the roll out of Interactive Whiteboards to NSW DET schools and TAFEs. She has recently completed a Graduate Certificate (Innovative Learning Design) at QUT and a Master of Education (Digital Technology) at CSU. Julie will be completing her Honours at CSU in 2024.

Participant requirements

Tablet or smartphone. Spacecraft AR, AR Real Animals, Anatomy AR, AR MKR and CoSpaces

Gesture-based programming (Advanced / Senior Secondary Secondary) Two session workshop

Learn the basics of gesture based programming. Use Mediapipe to place landmarks on your face and be able to play a hands free Chrome Dino game.

Presenter

Jason Vearing, Winx - hands free gaming

Participant

Laptop, webcam and familiarity with a python IDE such as VS Studio or PyCharm. Code snippets are supplied.

Session 6 Unpacking a holistic approach to High School Esports and School Culture. VR Projects for Digital Literacy and Design Thinking. Gesture-based programming.
(2:00 pm - 2:30 pm)

Unpacking a holistic approach to High School Esports and School Culture. (Introductory/Junior and Senior Secondary)

Join Mark Mendez-Cortes as he presents holistic approach to Esports culture in a High School setting as well as unpacking how esports empower school communities.

Presenter

Mark Mendez-Cortes, Head of Faculty, Technologies and Creative Industries, Coomera Anglican College.

Mark Mendez-Cortes is renowned for his passion and commitment to providing innovative and authentic learning experiences for his students. In 2018, Mark established the successful Chisholm Esports program, transforming culture of high school esports (HSE) into a holistic look at health in a competitive digital environment. Since then, he has developed and delivered the Diploma of Esports at QUT and worked with national industry specialists to deliver authentic opportunities for schools and students. Mark has over 15 years’ experience in education, including leading and developing school culture and developing both extracurricular and curriculum aligned opportunities across faculty areas.

By empowering teachers in all education systems, he has developed representative teams, led district-wise esports tournaments supported by the University of Queensland and constructed development programs including gym and training schedules and creative industries aligned learning experiences for students across multiple competitive digital platforms. Join him as he unpacks a holistic approach to high school esports and reminds us why unique opportunities are crucial for future learners.

VR Projects for Digital Literacy and Design Thinking (Introductory / Lower and Upper Primary, Junior Secondary Secondary) Two session workshop

Through my leadership of Digital Literacy and Design Thinking, five projects were completed that have given students a range of digital literacy capabilities. These projects included creating websites (Google Sites), Augmented Reality (AR MKR), iMovie, Toontastic and Beebots. At the beginning of the Term 2 Augmented Reality project, students were unfamiliar with the iPad application, AR MKR, at the completion of the project, 100% of students were confident in using the application and applying it to other key learning areas. It has been observed in digital literacy lessons, students in my class worked at a faster rate due to the increased digital literacy capabilities that they had acquired during the various projects. They have become accustomed to using technology, enhancing the digital capabilities of digital creation, digital collaboration and digital innovation while supporting their reading and literacy skills. If time permits, I will share some of my resources on Drone Videography and Gamification. Key Takeaways: 1. Expose students to technology early and give them plenty of opportunity to experiment. 2. Use various applications and an immersive strategy. 3. Allow students to showcase their creations with each other and in wider contexts 3. Back what you are implementing with research so you can prove it is evidence based and effective.

Presenter

Julie Taylor, from Pymble Public School and Charles Sturt University, is a passionate classroom teacher and Technology POD Leader who authentically integrates technology and innovation into daily school life. She applies her academic interests of Digital Pedagogy and Technology Integration into the classroom environment, facilitating Augmented Reality and website design projects with her Year 2 students. Julie has a strong background in Technology in Education having earnt her school the Becta ICT Mark while undertaking the role as Technology Leader in the UK and working as an Education Consultant during the roll out of Interactive Whiteboards to NSW DET schools and TAFEs. She has recently completed a Graduate Certificate (Innovative Learning Design) at QUT and a Master of Education (Digital Technology) at CSU. Julie will be completing her Honours at CSU in 2024.

Participant requirements

Tablet or smartphone. Spacecraft AR, AR Real Animals, Anatomy AR, AR MKR and CoSpaces

Gesture-based programming (Advanced / Senior Secondary Secondary) Two session workshop

Learn the basics of gesture based programming. Use Mediapipe to place landmarks on your face and be able to play a hands free Chrome Dino game.

Presenter

Jason Vearing, Winx - hands free gaming

Participant

Laptop, webcam and familiarity with a python IDE such as VS Studio or PyCharm. Code snippets are supplied.

Session 7 Design Thinking – Start early, start now. AI and ethics in education Esports in Education - a beginner's Journey
(3:00 pm - 3:30 pm)

Design Thinking – Start early, start now. (Introductory / Lower and Upper Primary, Junior Secondary) Two session workshop

With the release of Australian Curriculum v9, user stories, design criteria, UX, prototypes and design thinking are included. This session will endeavour to explain each of the concepts along with ways to teach them so that your classes can become the creators of the future.

Presenter

Kylie is a secondary teacher with over 30 years’ experience in Queensland schools, including digital technologies, STEAM and digital solutions. She has worked as team leader within technologies in a secondary school context, across both Digital and Design learning areas. Kylie has worked with Queensland College of Teachers as HAT and LEAD teacher Assessor for QCEC and Queensland Assessment and Curriculum Authority as Endorser, Confirmer, Marker, and School Approver. Volunteer roles include speaker at Pycon and tutor with Girls Programming Network. Her passion to inspire and empower students for the opportunities for the future ensures she is always seeking to understand developments in technology, pedagogy and curriculum.

AI and ethics in education (Introductory / Lower and Upper Primary, Junior Secondary) Two session workshop

Provoking considerations of the ethical implications of AI on education by exploring three levels of ethics: immediate impacts on practices, implications for learning, and concluding with considerations of the ethics of limiting the development of AI.

Presenters

Dr Jason Zagami is a senior lecturer in the School of Education and Professional Studies of Griffith University on the Gold Coast, where he teaches and conducts research on educational technologies with a focus on identification of emerging trends, educational gaming, student co-creation of secondary worlds, AI applications in teaching, neural/cognitive activity measurement; and Computer Science Education (K12) with a focus on curriculum implementation approaches and higher-order thinking skill development.

Jason has used and taught about AI in education since 1996 and coauthored international studies on the implications of artificial intelligence for education, presenting the COSN Driving K12 Education Report focus on AI in 2022 and was the Australian representative to the AI in Education working group at EduSummit19.

He has received Outstanding National Achievement by a Teacher and Queensland Computer Educator of the Year awards. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Certified Innovator, and has been a member of the ACS ICT Educators board, president of the Australian Council for Computers in Education (ACCE), president of the Queensland Society for Information Technology in Education (QSITE), editor of the Australian Educational Computing (AEC) journal, and president of the Australian College of Educators (Gold Coast region).

Participant requirements

Device with internet capability for online polling

Esports in Education - a beginner's Journey (Introductory / Junior Secondary)

A beginning teacher shares his learnings about eSports in Education learned over the preceding 8 months being thrust into the role of eSports coach.

Presenter

Dean Cobler is a beginning teacher at Ormeau Woods State High School teaching Digital Technology.

Session 8 Design Thinking – Start early, start now. AI and ethics in education NASEF Scholastic Fellow Program
(3:30 pm - 4:00 pm)

Design Thinking – Start early, start now. (Introductory / Lower and Upper Primary, Junior Secondary) Two session workshop

With the release of Australian Curriculum v9, user stories, design criteria, UX, prototypes and design thinking are included. This session will endeavour to explain each of the concepts along with ways to teach them so that your classes can become the creators of the future.

Presenter

Kylie is a secondary teacher with over 30 years’ experience in Queensland schools, including digital technologies, STEAM and digital solutions. She has worked as team leader within technologies in a secondary school context, across both Digital and Design learning areas. Kylie has worked with Queensland College of Teachers as HAT and LEAD teacher Assessor for QCEC and Queensland Assessment and Curriculum Authority as Endorser, Confirmer, Marker, and School Approver. Volunteer roles include speaker at Pycon and tutor with Girls Programming Network. Her passion to inspire and empower students for the opportunities for the future ensures she is always seeking to understand developments in technology, pedagogy and curriculum.

AI and ethics in education (Introductory / Lower and Upper Primary, Junior Secondary) Two session workshop

Provoking considerations of the ethical implications of AI on education by exploring three levels of ethics: immediate impacts on practices, implications for learning, and concluding with considerations of the ethics of limiting the development of AI.

Presenters

Dr Jason Zagami is a senior lecturer in the School of Education and Professional Studies of Griffith University on the Gold Coast, where he teaches and conducts research on educational technologies with a focus on identification of emerging trends, educational gaming, student co-creation of secondary worlds, AI applications in teaching, neural/cognitive activity measurement; and Computer Science Education (K12) with a focus on curriculum implementation approaches and higher-order thinking skill development.

Jason has used and taught about AI in education since 1996 and coauthored international studies on the implications of artificial intelligence for education, presenting the COSN Driving K12 Education Report focus on AI in 2022 and was the Australian representative to the AI in Education working group at EduSummit19.

He has received Outstanding National Achievement by a Teacher and Queensland Computer Educator of the Year awards. He is an Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Certified Innovator, and has been a member of the ACS ICT Educators board, president of the Australian Council for Computers in Education (ACCE), president of the Queensland Society for Information Technology in Education (QSITE), editor of the Australian Educational Computing (AEC) journal, and president of the Australian College of Educators (Gold Coast region).

Participant requirements

Device with internet capability for online polling

NASEF Scholastic Fellow Program (Introductory / Lower and Upper Primary, Junior and Senior Secondary)

Educators implementing esports-infused curricula are pioneers. NASEF's Fellows program creates a community of like-minded teachers who share ideas and best practices for the best ways to connect learning to student interests through esports. Hear from Craig Kerwin, a current Australian NASEF Fellow, about the professional learning community, resources and professional learning available to educators through NASEF.

Presenter

Craig Kerwin. Senior Educator - Diploma in Esports QUT College | AFHEA (Indigenous) | ADE 2017 | NASEF Scholastic Fellow In 2022, Craig was employed as a Senior Educator at QUT College in Kelvin Grove where he has engineered and led the development and delivery of the university's Diploma in Esports, an AQF Level 5 Diploma (tertiary) qualification. Prior to commencing at QUT, Craig had an extensive and multifaceted career in education, which included classroom teaching, various Head of Department roles, and deputy and principal leadership roles. He has been passionate about the use of technologies in the curriculum since the early 90s, with curriculum documentation published in 1999. In 2017 he was recognised by Apple as an Apple Distinguished Educator for his implementation of a school-wide Apple-learning environment for the students in his school. Craig has not only taught digital technologies across all year levels, including the successful delivery of a Certificate IV in Multimedia in 2004 to Year 11 and 12 students, but he has also created several software packages and iPad applications, and more recently published materials on augmented reality and coding. Craig enjoys playing Assetta Corso, as long as he is driving a Nissan GT-3, Rocket League, and more recently Mario Kart and Mario Wonder on his Nintendo Switch.

Participant requirements

Laptop (optional)

Panel 1 esports in Schools
(4:00 pm - 4:30 pm)

Jason Zagami (Moderator), Dean Cobler, Craig Kerwin, and Mark Mendez-Cortes

Panel 2 AI in Schools
(4:30 pm - 5:00 pm)

Jason Zagami (Moderator), Kylie Mathers, Rashan Senanayke, and Mark Venz

Presenters

Jason Zagami

Rachel Minns

Kerry Batt

Linda Clark

Mark MendezCortes

Craig Kerwin

Kylie Mathers

Annabelle Kent

Christiana Moore

Rashan Senanayake

Jenni Fewtrell

Christopher Crane

Jason Vearing

Dean Cobler

Mark Venz

Room Locations

EducateIT 2023 will be held on the Griffith University Gold Coast campus in Building G30 Arts and Education 1, on the lower floor. Registration and sponsor displays will be in the foyer, with keynotes held in the 1.09 lecture hall and sessions held in double rooms 1.11/1.12 and 1.13/1.17 and single rooms 1.18 and 1.19. Meals will be served in the foyer with covered undercroft seating outside, and dinner will be in rooms 1.11/1.12. Toilets are available in the foyer. Trade/disabled access from the right on Science Road or down the elevator from Level 2 and Multimedia Lane.