Integrating Digital Technologies in STEM: The 2019 STEMEd Conference

The STEMEd Conference held on Friday 5 April and Saturday 6 April 2019 was a collaboration between the ACT Education Directorate, ACT teacher professional associations and non-government school sector organisations. The conference had two key aims:

1. showcase and share leading practice in STEM education from preschool to year 12 that was aligned to the goals and priorities set out in the National STEM School Education Strategy 2018-2026
2. highlight opportunities for partnerships between schools, tertiary institutions, and industry partners.

Friday 5 April

Friday consisted of STEM-related workshops at various locations around Canberra, including the Academy of Science, Questacon, Geoscience Australia, Canberra Institute of Technology, CSIRO Discovery Centre, the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex and the Centre for Innovation and Learning. These workshops provided real-world context for the Australian Curriculum, STEM, digital technologies and skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration.

Saturday April 6

The second day of the conference featured keynote speeches from former Chief Scientist Professor Ian Chubb AC, Centenary Professor Tom Lowrie from University of Canberra and Professor Joan Leach from the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science.

A full day of workshops provided professional learning opportunities on a range of STEM topics, including open source software for STEM projects, coding in the integrated classroom, programming with Raspberry Pi and Arduino microcontrollers, computer aided design, machine learning and robotics. These workshops enabled teachers to explore best practice in integrating digital technologies into STEM classrooms.

Attendee feedback was overwhelmingly positive as many found the workshops to be engaging, insightful, and relevant. Attendees also welcomed the opportunity for informal networking and sharing of ideas relating to STEM classrooms.

The STEMed Conference has played an important role in promoting digital technologies in STEM teaching and learning. The conference provided teachers with the knowledge and practical resources required to effectively teach digital technologies in schools. Finally, it has highlighted the important role teachers have in equipping students with the skills needed to tackle the complex digital challenges of our times.

The STEMed Conference provided
opportunities for attendees to network
with other educators and
teacher professional associations.

Learning to use digital technologies
to program robots, with the
experts from Robogals.

Workshops like the one at Cotter Dam
gave attendees the opportunity to
experience real-world STEM applications.

Getting in Touch with ‘Digital Schools - Our Stories’ 

Are you based at an ACT Public School and would like to feature a digital teaching and learning event, project or classroom activity? Make contact with us here on the blog or email DSST@act.gov.au. We can arrange to visit your school when it is most convenient for you.