Goals of the Northern Peninsula Area State College

This 2010 video provides an orientation to the location, philosophy and goals of the Northern Peninsula Area State College. It features staff members and administrators who were working at the college at that time but is otherwise still current. Thanks NPASC for sharing this film.

From a teacher at DECV.

I think this extract from his ‘Light on the Hill’ speech sums up his aims and why your work with Schoolaborate goes to the heart of his desire for young aboriginal people to become independent from Welfare and part of the mainstream  in the current soc/eco climate in Australia that we have now and in the future.  

‘This country needs to develop a new consensus around our commitment to welfare. This consensus needs to be built on the principles of personal and family empowerment and investment and the utilisation of resources to achieve lasting change. In other words our motivation to reform welfare must be based on the principle that dependency and passivity are a scourge and must be avoided at all costs. Dependency and passivity kills people and is the surest road to social decline. Australians do not have an inalienable right to dependency, they have an inalienable right to a fair place in the real economy.’(  NPEARSON 2000)

A cooks tour of the Skoolaborate / NPAC / WTL Kitchen

Here my avatar takes you on a cooks tour of what the students at Northern Peninsula Area College were able to achieve in six days. The program of work developed skills in Photoshop, Literacy, basic 3D modeling and navigation of vitual environments. Similarly the Cairns WTL students worked on developing avatars, tags and graphic designs for application to skateboard decks.

Recognition for everyone’s hard work.

SKOOLABORATE – School (laborate) open 24/7 – State Finalist in Curriculum Innovation Victorian Education Award and Regional Finalist Curriculum Innovation Awards Far North Queensland. Both Yet to be decided. Watch this space and keep your fingers crossed.Well done Roger, Pauline, Susan, Phil and the un-named support crew and of course the students who took the real risks with their time and their learning.

WTL Design Space & T.I Tagai Mural

We had a fruitful meeting with Lynn-Anne Principal, Assistant Principal Tereasa and Martin Head of Arts regarding sharing some space. Martin is going to send us some of his students work to share shortly. 

Mark reflects on aspects of the two week program.

Mark Kent, Assistant Principal Distance Education Centre Victoria reflects on aspects of the program and  the last two weeks. Bamaga and Cairns YJ students have certainly taken advantage of the opportunity to learn new skills.

Skoolaborate in the NPAC as reported in the Torres News

Day 2 WTL students Skateboards in Skoolaborate

Day 2 WTL students embraced the program with their level of engagement growing. Mark developed their 3D building skills in Skoolaborate. Students also had fun go-cart racing and parachuting in the amusement park in Second Life. Phil was run off his feet tutoring and trouble shooting students designs in Photoshop.
The students were enthusiastic about resolving their designs and each student developing a personal signature to their work. Students forgot about time, mentored each other in Skoolaborate and at the end of the day they were still engaged in the program. The WTL students displayed a positive commitment to the program and were very pleased with the knowledge and skills they gained over the two days.

Day I WTL students Skateboards in Skoolaborate

Today we welcomed the youth justice students to Skoolaborate. These at risk students will over the next two days investigate youth culture through Skateboards in Skoolaborate in the National Gallery and Virtual Design Spaces. Students were introduced to the project through designing avatars and navigating the virtual space. Students were impressed with Mark’s presentation on skateboarding which provided the excitement for them to engage in this project. Students spent the afternoon gaining hands on practical experience with Phil in CS5 photoshop designing tags for their skateboards. Students were focused and at the end of the day felt very proud of their achievements.

Cairns WTL Students get the hang of the virtual world really quickly

After only a single day of geting to know the ropes in Skoolaborate  the students are researching designs for their skateboards.