Digital Technology & STEM News
BYOD Parent Information Session
Who: All Parents and Carers of our Year 2 students (Other interested parents also welcome)
When: Wednesday September 4 from 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Format: Online Google Meet - Meeting Link: meet.google.com/gmb-buyq-afx
Dear parents and carers,
We are very excited to be writing to you about the BYOD (bring your own device) program at St Cecilia’s.
We have worked with LWT (Learning With Technologies), a technology in education specialist provider, to set up our BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Program.
The program will mean that students will have their own chromebook device that they will be responsible for and will be able to use both at school and at home.
The devices will still remain managed under the school’s Google Education domain, which will allow for the school to help ensure safe and appropriate use of the devices.
The program was introduced in 2022 for the year 3 students and has continued to roll out over the past 2 years. Eventually all students from year 3-6 will have their own device.
We are requiring that families of any student going into Year 3 next year (Current Year 2 parents), purchase a device before the end of the year so that it can be set up and ready to use on day one 2025.
We are confident that this program further enhances our students ability to engage in learning about digital technology and indeed access resources related to all areas of the curriculum.
Parent Information Session
On Wednesday September 4, between 6:00pm and 7:00pm we will be hosting an online parent information session which will outline the rationale for the program, the ordering process and device options and specifications.
During the session, I will present the school’s policies and processes, while Kevin from LWT will outline the ordering and support process.
Please note, if for any reason no parent or carer is able to make it to the live session, a recording of the session will be made available.
We look forward to seeing you online during the session.
Kind regards,
Matthew Mooney
Digitial Technology Leader
Design Thinking and Learning to Fail
This term in STEM & Digital Technology design thinking has been a significant focus across all year levels.
Students at all different levels have been working in teams to create design solutions for a wide range of problems, some utilisising digital solutions, others creating material design solutions and some combining both.
The students have been learning about the process outlined above as an approach to tackling difficult problems.
Recently I presented a problem to the Year 3 students to construct a bridge that spanned 40cm with limited materials. The task was purposefully difficult and in the end no group was fully able to meet the brief.
We spoke about that fact that failing and the willingness to fail is a vital part of learning in any curriculum domain, but is especially important in STEM. Despite no group fulfilling the breif entirely, because they failed, they had to rethink, redesign, experiment, discuss, hypothesise and imagine.
The students came up with some remarkable design solutions that they never would have imagined with a task that was easier to complete.
Although none of us enjoy failing, it is important to recognise what a vital part of learning and resilience building it is. If you would like to read more about the importance of learning to fail for children you can click here for an article from the Child Mind Institute.