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Kids Congress
By Nicole Sprainger
Education Officer, Learning Technologies Catholic Education, Diocese of Parramatta
 
 

Background:

Kids Congress is a unique social justice and technology conference for kids run by kids. It has been developed as a partnership between the Catholic Education, Diocese of Parramatta and the School of Education, Australian Catholic University, NSW.

It is held once every two years and is designed for students aged 10 -14 years to:

  • Encourage them to become better informed about social justice issues and environmental concerns
  • Connect them with other like-minded students who have the capacity and desire to respond to social justice issues and environmental concerns
  • Engage them in the use of contemporary technologies and the creative arts to effectively communicate their key messages
  • Empower them take a leadership role in informing other students about these issues in their own school communities
The event is held over two days at the Australian Catholic University at the Mt St Mary Campus at Strathfield. The university venue is important because it conveys a clear message to our students that they are powerful and capable learners and that student voices should be heard.

In 2007 we had 270 students from 53 primary and secondary schools participate. The theme of the 2007 Congress was "Kids Care Earth Share". Prior to the Congress students prepare by identifying and researching an issue which concerns them personally.

Then during the Congress delegates have the opportunity to:

  • Hear from other inspirational young people who have demonstrated that it is possible to make a difference in the world. Our keynote speaker this year was Jenni Downes, a young university student who has been working as a volunteer in Kenya
  • Express their opinions in music, visual arts, public speaking and debating
  • Participate in an extended technology workshop to create a media item which they can use as a tool for advocacy when they return to school.
The workshops are primarily student-led as are the events in the main auditorium. The Workshops included activities such as Podcasting; Film-making; Flash Animation; Legomation; Graphic Design using Graphics Tablets; Cartooning and even Google Sketchup.

The event is fun-filled and vibrant. The learning is authentic and purposeful. The technology is engaging and fully integrated.

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Wacom's Involvement
Wacom were enthusiastic supporters of this event. In association with Nicole Sprainger from the Catholic Education Office, we visited Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School Kellyville to train some of their artistic year 5 students in using Wacom graphics tablets with Corel Painter Essentials. The students were very quick to master the program and had the advantage of several follow up lessons with Katie Coogan, one of the teachers at the school.

The Digital Art workshop was equipped with Wacom's mobile classroom of laptops and graphics tablets. After a brief introduction to the tablets and Corel Painter Essentials from the year 5 trainers, all of the students set about creating a graphic which illustrated their environmental message. The completed graphics were printed onto heat sensitive paper which allowed the graphic to be ironed onto fabric such as T-Shirts.

Katie's role within the Kid's Congress event was to mentor the students who elected to participate in the digital art workshop and to support her team of trainers as they delivered instructions to a room full of their peers. For all students it was a practical lesson in time management and all completed their designs within the allocated time. At completion the students were articulate in sharing the message they were supporting via their art and everyone agreed it had been a wonderfully rich experience on many levels.

 
 
   
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