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The week that was – Central QLD – Damien Kee

Aug 12, 2011

Something a little different for me this week. The

QLD

government recognizes the difficulty remote school encounter, providing the activities that are readily available to their city schools counterparts. As a result, they have funds and grants available to bring activities like mine out to them. This last week I have spent out at a school, a 2hr plane flight and 5hr drive from my usual area.

It was the largest school in the area with an enrollment of 35, and we had other schools in the cluster drive in (1.5hrs each way in some cases) to do do the workshop. We were keen to involve the whole school, preps to grade 7, so it was decided that we would split the groups in to P-3 and 4-7.

Now the P-3’s would struggle with the

NXT’

s so I splashed out and got some BeeBots.

These cute little robots just have Forward, Backwards, Left and Right buttons on them and no computer interface, perfect for the littlies. I’ll make a separate post about the BeeBot activities we did.

For the upper schools we concentrated on the

NXT’

s and my usual workshop of getting the robots to maneuver to different locations. The kids also really enjoyed the Mexican Wave activity.

It was a great week, and the small numbers in each session made it possible to spend a bit more time with the kids and get a little further. The teachers were also fantastic, with country hospitality evident everywhere (it seems everyone in the town knew me and what I was doing there 😀 ). They were also very appreciative of the fact that I came out at all, as I get the feeling that it can sometimes be difficult to get people and activities out there.

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  • Brenda Gahan - Head of Learning image

    Brenda Gahan - Head of Learning

    Sunshine Coast Grammar School
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    His wealth of knowledge and expertise allows him to tailor each workshop to the specific skill level and interests of the students (and teachers) and ensures that everyone is engaged and challenged.

  • Digital Technologies Teacher image

    Digital Technologies Teacher

    Victoria Point State High School
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    Students engaged in hands-on learning experiences that developed their problem-solving skills. It was a valuable and highly relevant real world learning opportunity.

  • Tammy Grady image

    Tammy Grady

    Senior Project Officer, QMEA
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    Through the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA), Damien has worked with hundreds of students and Teachers from across the State, all with varying levels of robotic and programming experience. Feedback from Damien’s workshops are always full of praise and appreciation, not only for his professional knowledge, but his adaptable teaching style and ease of delivery.

  • STEM Teacher - Years 7-10 image

    STEM Teacher - Years 7-10

    Tannum Sands State High School
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    Damien's professionalism and communications skills are superb. The very best educational expert visitor we have had come to the college.

  • Primary School Teacher - Year 5 image

    Primary School Teacher - Year 5

    Central Queensland Primary School
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    Damien's delivery style captivated students across every year level, from junior to senior. His depth of knowledge and genuine ability to tailor content to our students' abilities made a real difference, keeping everyone engaged and getting the most out of the experience regardless of their starting point.

  • Head of Curriculum image

    Head of Curriculum

    South East QLD Primary School
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    What stood out most was how thoroughly Damien customised the workshop to our school's specific needs. Rather than a one-size-fits-all session, he took the time to understand what we were after and delivered exactly that.