Earlier this Semester Mordialloc College was lucky enough to receive a DigiTech start up grant from the Department of Education and Training. This grant has been used to purchase a number of exciting new robotics resources that are going to be utilised in both Digital Technologies and STEM subjects. These subjects provide students with an opportunity to develop their coding and robotics skills, and with our new robots and drones, we can provide a more engaging and wider range of learning opportunities for beginner coders right through to those who are already writing complex programs. The current fleet of robots in the school now includes mBots, which introduce students to object based coding, Lego Mindstorms, which have a wide range of applications in our STEM classes, and mBot Rangers and CoDrones, which will be used to develop students’ script based programming skills. Some of these resources, such as the Lego Mindstorms, have already been successfully implemented in the delivery of the STEM curriculum, while others, such as the mBot Rangers and CoDrones will be introduced in Semester 2.

In other eLearning news at the College, we are continuing our work as an accredited eSmart school to educate our students about Cybersafety. Being an eSmart school gives us access to a wide range of resources that we implement across Years 7 to 12 to ensure that students are able to use technology in a safe and responsible manner. If you would like any information on how you can assist your students in being eSafe you can find valuable information at https://www.esafety.gov.au, or contact me at the College on 9580 1184 for further information.

Justin Wischusen

Director or eLearning and STEM