Scitech and Alcoa program rolled out in schools to boost teachers’ and students’ digital skills

Teachers became students during a digital technologies workshop in a bid to give students digital skills for the workplace.

Scitech and Alcoa have teamed up to launch Alcoa Champions of Digital Technologies, a new year-long professional learning program that aims to upskill primary school teachers’ capabilities to integrate digital tech into daily teaching.

It was recently launched at Safety Bay Primary School with teachers from schools in the Kwinana, Rockingham and Mandurah areas.

They were given a crash course in micro:bit technology, which are pocket-sized computers.

Micro:bits can be incorporated into learning across all subjects and teachers gained an insight into some of these teaching methods, including coding in a literacy lesson to increase student engagement in exploring storytelling or using micro:bits to learn about data collection in a numeracy lesson.

Scitech commercial general manager Megan O’Sullivan said the program was developed to not only “meet the growing need for teachers to be skilled in leading digital and STEM based approaches” but also help teachers become leaders in integrating new technologies in digital teaching methods.

“The program supports teachers to plan and implement learning opportunities which allow students to engage in STEM skills such as problem-solving, creativity and collaboration, applicable to any career pathway and industry,” Ms O’Sullivan said.