Useful Links for teachers

This section provides links to sites the Futureintech team hope will be useful in teaching technology, science and maths.

If there are websites which support the technology, science and maths curricula that you would like to recommend, please email Christine Linnell at clinnell@futureintech.org.nz

Futureintech’s classroom projects:

Techlink

CREST

Transpower Neighbourhood Engineers Awards

ETITO Bright Sparks

The Young Designer Awards

Other useful links:

The Waste Exchange

Classroom Projects

Futureintech supports four classroom-based projects - the Transpower Neighbourhood Engineers Award, CREST, Bright Sparks and the Young Designers Award. They’re all about hands-on learning, and showing students how subjects like maths, science and technology are applied in work situations.

All can be included as part of the technology, science and maths curriculum, and all have proven track records of success. Many students have won awards, traveled overseas, won prizes for their schools and started tertiary study as a direct result.

Want to know more? Get in touch with one of our Facilitators, who can help set up these programmes and arrange for Ambassadors to help out. We’d love to hear from you.

Techlink
Was established in 2003 with support from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, through the Enterprise Culture & Skills Activities Fund. In 2005 a partnership between the Ministry of Education and The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) has resulted in the continued development of Techlink to provide resource material to support the planning and implementation of programmes in technology education, and case studies of classroom practice.

CREST
Crest is an international awards scheme designed to encourage creative and practical student projects. It teaches students to be innovative, creative, and to problem solve.

Students can enter as individuals or teams, and there are four levels – First, Bronze, Silver and Gold. The use of an outside consultant (i.e. a Futureintech Ambassador) is recommended to help students with advice and support in keeping their project manageable.

Students can enter their CREST projects into regional Science and Technology Fairs and other competitions, and can also have it assessed for NCEA credit. Emphasis is placed on the processes used, not just the final result.

Transpower Neighbourhood Engineers Awards
Similar to CREST, except that it this a team project and a competition – the Institution of Professional Engineers (IPENZ) judges the reports submitted and awards prizes of up to $2000.

The emphasis is on ‘neighbourhood’ – on practical, close-to-home projects that impact appreciably on the school or local community. Teams consisting of teacher, students and volunteer engineer are challenged to carry out technological practice to meet an identified need or exploit an opportunity in their school or community.

ETITO Bright Sparks
The Bright Sparks programme has the goal of attracting students into hi-tech careers. It aims to identify and mentor young people into computing, bio-tech and hi-tech careers.

Bright Sparks offers an electronics programme as a full subject at senior school; there is a web and email based club, which encourages interaction and discussion, and industry links are encouraged through school and workplace visits, mentoring, competitions and prizes.

Bright Sparks also offers scholarships to talented university students and has the support of many industries in the electrical, technology and computing fields.

The Young Designer Awards
This is New Zealand’s premier national design competition for secondary schools. There are a range of categories to enter, including electronics, communication, fashion, products, landscape and built environment.

Since starting in 1990 the award has gone on to become highly successful, prestigious, and popular amongst schools and students. The awards are based around encouraging young people to promote their creativity in a way which can eventually be employment related, and by enlisting industry support it has helped show students a range of different career possibilities.

Many previous winners have received tertiary scholarships, and there are many more examples of students who have entered the event and come out of it with renewed confidence and self-esteem.