Western Australia’s largest university and a local STEM educator have announced an innovative partnership to assist primary and secondary students, and under-served communities, for a more digitally-orientated future.
Under the new Memorandum of Understanding signed between Curtin University and STEMSmart, the latter’s digital products and courses will be combined with Curtin’s teaching and learning strategies to boost the technical capabilities of school children.
Brad Birt, Curtin University Director of Learning Partnerships, said the announcement reinforces a strong partnership that has the potential to inspire the next generation of digital and technology innovators.
“Curtin has had the opportunity to work alongside STEMSmart in a number of initiatives and we are excited to see how our collaboration can broaden access to engaging and creative technology-focused learning experiences for students, those in under-served communities and Curtin’s broader partner ecosystem,” Mr Birt said.
These initiatives will not only foster innovative thinking, but will improve student outcomes and create experiences that make the link between technology, higher education and jobs of the future.
Previously known as Fire Tech Australia, STEMSmart maintains an 8:1 student-tutor ratio and has successfully delivered over 7,000 courses across a range of areas such as general coding, creative, games and robotics.
Andrea Conte, Managing Director of STEMSmart, added new technologies are reinventing the way both communities and businesses run. Therefore, it is vital to build STEM capability in younger people to drive change.
“Having worked with a wide range of stakeholders in the tertiary sector, we have recognised Curtin as our exclusive strategic education partner to elevate the technical capabilities and digital literacy of children, and cement their importance in the minds of students, parents and our community,” Mr Conte said.
While STEMSmart emphasises skills like programming and robotics, what we do is as much about building creativity, collaboration and looking at the way we live, work and relate to each other both now and into the future, and we know this is a vision shared by Curtin.
Project partnerships that have been proposed include digital boot camps and immersive tech learning experiences.
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