DattaQueensland's podcast

Today, I am speaking with Monique Dalli. This is the second half of our chat from earlier in the year and we take a deep dive as problem solvers into some of the problems we have in our subject area.  We are talking the lack of training, mentors and growing DT teachers. In Monique's words we need to take narrow and sharp focus to use our problem-solving skills in the turbulent times ahead.  We are...

Today I am speaking with MJ Raatz. MJ is the Head of department for Digital technologies and Business at Forest Lake High and when I heard about some of the things he is doing, I just had to have a chat. He really is an innovative teacher and today I am drilling him about FPV drone flight and how he is adding using it in his year 10 classes. I hope you enjoy this chat. What an inspiring teacher MJ...

Today, I am speaking with Thomas Oliphant. Tom is the Vex Robotics Australian Teacher of the year for 2021 and a finalist for the South Australia STEM teacher of the year too. It is not hard to see why. Tom runs an extracurricular program which brings 60 students from all year levels and thirty percent girls back to school twice a week to design and build robots. Working together three of his team...

Monique is the new President of the DATTA Australia and she is simply incredible to talk to.  It is just amazing to see someone who lights when she talks about our curriculum.  Our chat lasted twice as long as normal so I have cut it up into two parts. Today we discuss gender in our design workshop and then onto the continued transition to design and technology in our schools.  The next part will...

Today I am speaking with Terry Deen who is the head of learning at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. QGOMA is planning to include design and tech teachers and students in a range of learning spaces in the future.  Today we talk about the first one which along with another 40 or more teachers I was lucky to attend.  We were given a behind the scenes insight and a guided tour of the gallery's ex...

Design and technology week is happening this year between the 14 th and 18 th of June. Taking point is Kirsty Cooper and in this episode she describes how we can give our students a reason to get excited about design.  She shows a cracking way to spread it through your school and get all the kids involved.  She has inspired me, I hope she does with you too. Thanks to Kirsty for the chat!   About t...

Just imagine working with a group of young people who are so keen that they come in for hours every week to work on the coolest project. Simone Buckingham leads one of this type of teams at St. Columban's in Caboolture.  An aerospace school that partners with the likes of Air Bus and Boeing with students looking for careers in the industry, what better way to gain skills and make your self stand o...

Just imagine teaching kids who are really well prepared for our type of learning, project learning fostering collaboration and communication, critical thinking and above all creativity. And to top it off preparing them for incredible careers in some of Australia's high growth industries. The space industry, cyber security, quantum computing or advanced manufacturing to name a few. This is what Dr....

Just imagine heading to school in the morning knowing that today you are going to soar. Chris Barry's students know exactly what that feels like. They know what it is like to be at the controls of an aircraft.  Undertaking flight training at high school is a reality for these students in Victoria.  Twice Victorian teacher of the year Chris is literally teaching his students to soar. Not just that,...

Today, I am speaking with Matthew Williams from Ambrose State School. Just imagine being given the task to come up with a fully functioning business idea and to make a profit in just ten weeks. This mission was given to a class of 10, 11 and 12 year old students from Ambrose State School and more than half achieved the goal. Partnering with Startup Gladstone, ideas were generated, designs were cre...

Today, I am speaking with Keith Holledge the creator of CO2 racing here in Queensland.  Well actually I am not doing that much talking, because Keith gave just so much knowledge, he simply didn't leave anything out.  Starting next year Shaun, he sits next to me in the staffroom and is planning to start a CO2 design program with his year 9s and we asked Keith for his advice on how to do that.  You...

Today, I am speaking with David Capill, Head of Department Junior Secondary at Toolooa High just South of Gladstone. David is a primary school teacher stepping up to take on this role and he is just loving it. In particular the ties it has to stem and David hasn't held back. In this year, the COVID year, he has involved all five Gladstone High Schools, the Central Queensland University and a major...

Today, I am speaking with Brett Dascombe, a geography teacher at Wavell State High and some of the stuff he does is just sensational.   Why a geography teacher?  Well Brett tells me that one of the careers he is preparing his students for is surveying and that overlaps with us just beautifully.  We will be talking about spatial technologies, story maps, competitions, promoting students' work but t...

Today, I am speaking with Rachel Warnes, the head of department ITD at St Columban's College in Caboolture.  Now, one day a week Rachel heads out to the local primary school where she picks up a bus load of grade five students and brings them back for 2 hours of design.  While these kids are learning to solve the world's problems, their teachers are getting an invaluable in-service that they take...

Today, I am speaking with trade teacher from Bundaberg High School Greg Smith. Greg runs the HPV Super Series which sees 200 human powered racing vehicles compete in 8 races across Queensland. Now, I though this was going to be a good news story about a new competition starting soon, but it wasn't to be. It is a talk about how COVID-19 has decimated one school sport this year and the difficulties...

In this episode, I am speaking with 3 teachers from my school who have teamed up to guide some very talented students in a project that frankly makes my skin grawl. They are learning how to grow maggots as a part of a program with the Queensland's Virtual STEM Academy called Medicinal Maggots.   About the Bridge Building Podcast "This is the place where we dissect and then discover the many ways I...

In this episode, I'm speaking with Senior Teacher from Ferny Grove State High School, Carol-Anne Durkin. I first met Carol a few years ago when she was speaking at DATTA Conference on the Sunshine Coast and she is one impressive lady. And I reached out to see how she did during the COVID-19 lockdown.   About the Bridge Building Podcast "This is the place where we dissect and then discover the many...

In this episode, I'm speaking with Senior Teacher from Gladstone State High School and President of DATTA Queensland, Mark McMillan. Mark is one of those teachers who has had design success during the COVID-19 lockdown. He has had his students doing some pretty cool thing.   About the Bridge Building Podcast "This is the place where we dissect and then discover the many ways ITD teachers all over...

In this episode, I'm speaking to the most sensational young lady, Britt Cleary, a Second Year teacher of Ferny Grove State High School. I contacted her expecting to chat about some great stuff she's been doing with virtual reality in the classroom. But didn't she had a surprise for me? She is heading up a STEM program where she invited 56 - years 8 and 9 students to tackle some truly outstanding e...

In this episode, I'm speaking with the Head of Department Technology and the Vet Manager at Mountain Creek State High School, Andy Walpole. For the last ten years, Andy has run a very successful Vet program that had as 30% of his students find apprenticeships. He has taken a full 50% of his student school time and invested it in completing 4 certificate programs and many hours of work experience t...

In this episode, I am speaking with an ITD and Trade teacher from Winsolton State High School. John Joyce has created a bit of a Goliath at Winsolton in a little over 18 months. He is gone from just learning about HPV (Human Powered Vehicles) to having a fleet of 5 and a team of 50 students competing over Queensland 6 times a year. Realising that there wasn't a race close enough to his school so h...

In this episode, I am speaking with Rebecca Abnett and Skye Douglas, Science teachers from Nanango State High School. Every year the kids from Nanango host the most incredible day for all of the primary schools in the area where cars being raced, bridge being built and so many cool things.   About the Bridge Building Podcast "This is the place where we dissect and then discover the many ways ITD t...

Today, I am speaking with the ITD Coordinator of the Marist College Ashmore, Mr. Andrew Devoy where we will discover something their students do that is pretty cool.   ABOUT THE BRIDGE BUILDING PODCAST "This is the place where we dissect and then discover the many ways ITD teachers all over this country are using their passion to create passionate students. We talk of measuring and manipulating a...