$500,000 grant from Encouraging Innovation

$500,000 grant from Encouraging and Supporting Innovation fund revolutionises course delivery for NorthTec students

A $500,000 grant from the Tertiary Education Commission’s Encouraging and Supporting Innovation Fund is revolutionising the way that NorthTec’s Sustainable Rural Development courses are being delivered in remote areas.

The funding for NorthTec’s “Building Student Success in Community-Based Programmes” project was received from the Tertiary Education Commission in March last year.

Since then mobile teaching kits and training have been provided to NorthTec tutors delivering community-based sustainable rural development courses at eleven sites in an area from Ngataki in the north to Great Barrier Island in the east, Waipoua in the west and Coatesville in the south.

The mobile kits include a business tablet (similar to a laptop but also able to be used as a notepad), data show projector and screen, and a digital camera. Each of these elements can be connected together electronically which means that the full range of technology can be brought straight into a rural setting.

Tutors using the mobile teaching kits are enthusiastic about what access to the technology means for them.

“It’s the best teaching aid I’ve had,” said John Hill, a tutor in Horticulture and Sustainable Rural Development course at NorthTec’s Kaitaia campus. “I’d be lost without it now. It’s a big part of my teaching and I’m developing it all the time.”

Project Manager Charmaine Clark says that the equipment changes the platform delivery for education in remote areas providing access to information and knowledge sharing opportunities for students and is a means of embarking on a learning journey that can lead to higher level study.

“Students can be doing a practical lesson in a remote area and the tutor can choose to wrap up the lesson by showing a DVD or giving a power point presentation. Or the tutor can set the task for students to present to each other using the technology in the kits. Using the mobile teaching kits means they can do this on-site without having to go back to campus, which in many cases is a long way away.

“The mobile teaching kits purchased with the Encouraging and Supporting Innovation Grant remove barriers to learning by making the learning process more appealing to learners from all walks of life.

“The technology also enhances the learning experience in NorthTec’s sustainable rural development courses – which are already recognised as examples of best practise in New Zealand for delivering horticulture and agriculture education.”

Ms Clark says that using technology to facilitate the delivery of community-based, entry-level courses is also a great way to transition students into level 4 courses.

“It’s about growing skills and growing communities,” says NorthTec’s Programme Manager for Primary Industries, John Finlayson.

“The Encouraging and Supporting Innovation-funded project has created an innovative package that allows NorthTec students living in remote rural settlements the chance to enjoy the same kind of electronic access to the internet and communication that their urban cousins do.

“This enhances their learning opportunities and encourages them to staircase onto higher qualifications or into employment.”

NorthTec’s project was one of 29 projects awarded a total of $18.8 million in funding spread over three years.

ENDS

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