Techies unite, as the EduTECH conference and expo kicks off in Brisbane. The international event, the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere, aims to improve the quality of teaching with technology.

Paxton Roth reports.

TRANSCRIPT

Thousands of people are expected to attend the three day event to learn about the latest and greatest in technology.

It features 250 exhibitors and 230 speakers.

Anita L’Enfant, EduTECH Advisory Board Member: “It’s a really great opportunity to have an event like this for all the educators in Queensland.”

It’s also a chance to get hands on with everything new in technology.

Anita L’Enfant, EduTECH Advisory Board Member: “To watch children do it and to see how they do it and to have that observation and see them engage, not just in the playing of the equipment but in really authentic learning activities.”

With the equivalent of 100 years of technological changes expected in the next ten, the challenge is for educators to keep up.

Kate Jones, Qld Education Minister: “We need to make sure that students here in Queensland are getting the cutting edge education.”

Students are encouraged to come along and see how technology is making a difference in their learning.

Craig Macfarlane, CEO of EduTECH: “They can enter challenges, robotics, virtual reality and really see what’s happening in the classrooms.”

Having access to all of this technology is one thing but the key to success in our education system is getting students to embrace it, preparing them for new and emerging career opportunities.

Some of those opportunities we can’t yet imagine.

Craig Macfarlane, CEO of EduTECH: “We don’t know what jobs there will be in the future so they need to learn coding and robotics and all these new technologies from a very young age.”

The technology may be mind boggling but it can also be fun.

Paxton Roth, QUT News.