School Girls and Virtual Earth at TTYA 2009

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ttya09 We’ve been invited back to this year’s Technology Takes You Anywhere event, held on the 6th April. Last year we wore ourselves out showing 100’s of girls how to use an XBox controller to fly around Virtual Earth and find famous landmarks.  They seemed to have fun so we thought we’d do something similar this year, inspired by Brian Peak’s demo, and also get them to use the Wii Fit Board and controllers to add some extra fun in the day.

About the Event

Technology Takes You Anywhere is a special event aimed at increasing girls interest in technology and their confidence with using it. Through this event girls will be exposed to a range of different technologies. Older girls will also discover the diverse range of challenging and rewarding pathways that exist within the ICT industry.

Girls attending this event will have the opportunity to listen to speakers from a range of fields and on topics from biotechnology to creating programs for mobile phones. They will also experience hands-on workshops and visit MyMultiMedia. MyMultiMedia will include and animated film festival and activities such as robotics, forensic science, interactive whiteboards, music-making and videography as well as web, e-commerce and graphic design.

Technology Takes You Anywhere is not about excluding boys. It is about engaging girls with technology and raising awareness of the possibilities that are available to them. It is about encouraging girls to take up ICT and science-based subjects at school and in tertiary studies. It is about levelling the playing field so that young women have the same sorts of opportunities for employment in the ICT industry as men currently have.

The objectives of the day

  • Changing Attitudes, Changing Practice, Increasing Engagement
  • Increase interest, confidence and competence in the use of a range of information, communication technologies.
  • ICT is fun, people-oriented and can take you anywhere.
  • Gain awareness that information, communication technology offers a diverse range of pathways to challenging, rewarding, future-based careers.