Techlink :: Latest News :: July 2007 update

News Archive – July, 2007

Introduction

These pages are updated monthly to keep you informed of communication activities, key initiatives and technology education articles in the media.

Web statistics for July (.pdf, 31kb)

July update 2007

New Additions to Techlink in July

Enterprise case studies
Techlink has published a series of case studies which focus on creating and maintaining classroom links with enterprise. These links have proven to be particularly beneficial to not just the teacher but also the students' and the enterprise representatives.

Wanganui Girls' College and Kitchen Contours
Garin College and Sealord
Havelock North High School and Heinz Wattie's Foods
Havelock North High School and Edges
St Patrick's College and SurveyLab
Tararua College and Meal Innovations
Wanganui City College and Rob O'Keefe Joinery Ltd
Gisborne Girls' High School and Basically Bush
St John's College and RML Automation Ltd
Brokering the Links

Student Showcase

International Student Booklet- Yuan Yuan Zhang

TRCC Contact

Information on a variety of Techlink resources was sent to the Teachers Refresher Course Committee. Techlink have also offered to supply a representative to be present at their technology focused refresher courses to explain how best to use the case studies.

Technology education article coming in e.nz

Techlink writer Alistair McKenzie has submitted an article on technology education with references to the new curriculum. This article will be published in the next edition of Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) publication e.nz.

Once published, this article will be added to the Techlink article archive.

John Key - trades in schools

National Party leader John Key has called for those with a perspective on technology education to comment on the speech he made to The Employers and Manufacturers Association, Northern about reintroducing trades training into schools.

Letters of support for technology education and the up-coming new curriculum have been sent to Mr Key from Techlink, IPENZ Chief Executive Dr Andrew Cleland, and Technology Education New Zealand (TENZ) Council Chair Wendy Fox-Turnbull. Other letters have been sent from technology teachers.

A transcript of the speech is available from here and Mr Key can be contacted via his website www.johnkey.co.nz.

Summary of a year's web-traffic

A year has past since the first Beacon Practice case studies were published on Techlink. Study into the web statistics has revealed several key points of interest.

There have been over 150,000 hits to the Beacon Practice case studies since the first case studies were published in July 2006.
The most popular Beacon Practice case studies are Bright Ideas (Wellington High School), Te Papa Souvenirs (Queen Margaret College), Junior ICT Programming, (Kaitkait College), and ICT Programming (Hillcrest High School).
The Tauranga Boys' College Beacon Practice case study Product Technology Course has been viewed over 6,000 times in two months.
The Student Showcase has been viewed 16,000 times in five months, averaging over 3,200 visits a month. To learn more on submitting your Student Showcases view to the submission brief document.

The most popular Technological Practice case studies have been Smart Fibres, Detecting Tiny Tremors, Kia Kaha, and Fit to Drink.