New Zealand Science Teacher

New Mind Lab endeavours

16/09/2015

The Mind Lab expands its offerings with an open day and a new tertiary qualification.

Young students learning at The Mind Lab in Wellington, Petone.

Hutt Discovery Day

Every year, the Hutt Valley holds its unique Hutt Discovery Day, and this year is no exception. The Mind Lab, situated in Petone, will join the event by opening its doors to the public.

Hutt Discovery Day will take place this Sunday, 20 September, from 12–4pm. It’s pitched as a fun family day out with local organisations and facilities opening up their doors to showcase their work.

All organisations are open for free or a gold coin donation.

Petone’s Mind Lab is just one of four in New Zealand so far, with the others located in Auckland, Gisborne and Christchurch. The Mind Lab specialises in digital and collaborative learning to encourage and inspire the next generation of makers, innovators and thinkers.

Some of the activities featured at The Mind Lab on Hutt Discovery Day include 3D design and printing, electronic engineering, robotics and film-making.

For interested teachers, The Mind Lab will host a ‘postgrad open home’ from 12–2pm to showcase their postgraduate programme in digital and collaborative learning.

New qualification on offer

The Mind Lab is now offering a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Practice (Digital and Collaborative Learning) to Auckland tertiary educators.

The course itself is a part-time, 32-week programme, based on hands-on learning in digital teaching practices.

The qualification was previously available to primary and secondary teachers, but from November 2015 will also be offered to tertiary educators.

The Mind Lab founder and chair Frances Valintine says the extension of the programme will allow tertiary educators from Auckland-based learning institutions to upskill their digital technology skills and knowledge of contemporary teaching practice.

“Making this qualification available to tertiary educators is in recognition of the critical role that digital and collaborative learning plays at all levels, across all industries and in all workplaces,” she says.

Established in 2014, The Mind Lab is a collaboration with Unitec Institute of Technology, and has provided professional development for teachers, in addition to running hands-on workshops for students from years 1–13.