By the end of 2004, two Waikato/Bay of Plenty secondary schools had independently developed a range of senior programmes incorporating different combinations of Computing Unit Standards and Technology Achievement standards for NCEA assessment.

Teachers in these schools saw the Beacon practice project as an opportunity to work collaboratively to share their experience, develop their understandings and implement strategies to address some major issues that both schools were facing in their teaching of Digital within the framework of technology education.

Experienced external facilitators were identified and their roles within the development process clarified. Specific year groups were targeted and a planning, implementation and review loop established for the operation of the cluster.

Over the initial two-year period of the project considerable success was noted in terms of the level of student engagement and the quality of the Digital outcomes produced.

• Simplifying NCEA assessment
• Getting the balance right between Digital skills/knowledge and Technological Practice
• Making Technology programmes fun