Media release

Educator shares her spark for technologies

A Brisbane educator is sparking interest around the river city for her workshops designed to inspire primary teachers to incorporate technology and design thinking into the classroom.

Australian Catholic University academic Leighann Ness Wilson is the brains behind the Share the Spark workshops. She is a qualified secondary teacher and interior designer and is currently the technologies teacher in residence at St Williams Catholic Primary School, Grovely.

Primary teachers from a range of Brisbane schools have now attended the workshops at ACU’s campus in Banyo, with many attending more than once. The workshops’ goals are to support educators to deliver the recently implemented Technologies Curriculum in the Primary School years.

The Technologies key learning area is one of the newest in the Australian Curriculum and consists of two distinct but interconnected strands: Digital Technologies and Design and Technologies.

Upcoming Share the Spark workshop themes include exploring robotics through animation and editing; coding; and understanding the design process using modular electronics.

ACU State Head of Education Queensland Romina Jamieson-Proctor said ACU was extremely fortunate to have Leighann Ness Wilson teaching the technology workshops.

“Leighann is an experienced educator providing outstanding professional development to Primary school teachers.

“We have received extremely positive feedback for the semester one workshops and ACU is now looking forward to meeting the next round of primary teachers during semester two.”

Ms Ness Wilson said the workshops were empowering teachers.

“Technologies impact on individuals and societies around the world,” she said.

“The workshops are a fun way for experienced teachers to learn new approaches to bring technologies into the primary classroom with a real focus on hands-on learning.

“Technologies can help capture children’s attention and support them as they solve current and future problems.

“After the two hours workshop, teachers feel motivated to create classroom environments which inspire students’ imagination, creativity and develop crucial problem-solving skills through the use of various technologies.

“It’s a privilege to work with primary teachers who are dedicated to bringing creativity and design-thinking into the classroom.”

Further information at: www.acu.edu.au/sharethespark