Schools in the 21st Century
In the future will schools have robotic teachers? Will classrooms only exist in the virtual world? What will the school
of the future look like? These are some of the possible questions that teams from four secondary schools hope to raise
at the inaugural Our School of the Future Challenge.
The University of Waikato School of Education are organising the September 13 competition, which will involve Year 12
and 13 students from high schools Hamilton Boys, Hamilton Girls, Trident and James Cook. It will be held at 7pm at the
WEL Energy Academy of Performing Arts at the University.
The students’ challenge is to present in 15 minutes their vision of a school of the future. Teams will be judged on
their presentation skills, quality of content, teamwork, audience reaction and use of technology. The winning team
members will each gain a scholarship for their first year of study at the School of Education.
Competition designer Terry Locke, a School of Education lecturer says this challenge aims to encourage our students to
think critically about the education system that they are part of and to consider ways of making it more responsive to
students’ 21st Century needs.
The competition is part of a free public lecture series. This public lecture series started on 16 August and will finish
on 20 September and is held every Wednesday at 7pm at the WEL Energy Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato.
Members of the public and the media are welcome to attend.
ENDS