Game Changer Challenge pits students against nation’s leading technology thinkers

Department of Education Secretary Mark Scott will host some of the nation’s leading thinkers and futurists for a panel discussion that will answer tricky questions from public school students across NSW on Tuesday 5 August.

More than 150 students and teachers from as far west as Broken Hill and north to Nimbin will converge on the Australian headquarters of Google for day one of the Game Changer Challenge, a flagship event of Education Week 2019.

The Challenge, being run in collaboration with Google for Education, will highlight the latest in education technologies and innovative industry partnerships the public education system is embracing to ensure its students can thrive beyond the school gate.

The three-day Challenge involves 18 primary and secondary school teams, including a team from the Children’s Hospital School at Randwick, all tasked with designing a solution to the question, How might we humanise technology?

The Q&A panel, which includes Google Australia MD Melanie Silva, professors Toby Walsh and Mary-Anne Williams, ethicist Dr Matt Beard, entrepreneur Jillian Kilby and Microsoft national technology officer Lee Hickin is the catalyst to spark ideas and solutions to the Challenge question.

Scott said the Game Changer Challenge was designed to promote 21st century skills such as communication, collaboration and critical thinking among students and teachers.  

He said the collaboration with Google for Education was an exciting opportunity for students to work within an industry setting alongside some of the most creative and disruptive thinkers in the country. 

“This opportunity showcases how as a public education system we are ensuring our students can thrive in a rapidly changing world by giving them the knowledge and skills to translate learning from the classroom into a real-life context,” Scott said.

“The theme of the Game Changer Challenge speaks to our vision of creating things that help people in their everyday lives - and the role technology and innovation can play in shaping future opportunities for all Australians,” Silva added.