Background
John Foster has a background in electronic and electrical engineering in the UK energy industry. He taught in his native Yorkshire for a number of years before taking up his present teaching position in the technology department at Havelock North High School in 2004.
John teaches Year 9 Technology, Year 11 Graphics and wood-based senior technology classes and Year 10 electronics modules.
In 2005, a new technology programme was developed and introduced at the school, so that in Year 9 all students at the school follow a common technology programme. This gives them experience in a range of technologies and opportunities for progression in their technological practice.
John was given the opportunity to develop an electronics area within the new technology facility and designed a series of ' training kits' for student use including one to assist in the development of programming skills.
After gaining extra knowledge and skills in this area through ETITO electronics courses delivered by Andrew Hornblow, he developed the one-term electronics module featured in this case study, which has been offered as a Year 10 option for the last two years.
John's first Year 10 electronics module option was offered in 2005. The main project was the development of a programmable alarm system, preceded by a skill-building keyring/light project. For 2006 the main project involved the construction and programming of a remote-controlled robot, using the PICAXE microcontroller .
