Learning workshops for ākonga and whanau

OMGTech! gave any school in NZ the opportunity to take part in its award winning workshops (Plus any grown up, parent, or other member of the public that wants to take part) to be inspired and learn how to use future technology.

We have had hundreds of industry volunteers as role models who inspired the kids of Aotearoa with our workshops that spaned the length and breadth of NZ.

Learning workshops for ākonga and educators

OMGTech! was also an accredited provider approved by the Ministry of Education and provided a blended e-learning PLD programme. We had facilitators that worked with schools and kura to create customised PLD programmes for their kaiako and teachers.

OMGTech! has an online school with many courses for educators to engage their students with real world tech content. This will stay live to continue inspiring our education sector.

Youth mentorship programmes for under-represented communities

The Mana Tangata programme selected ākonga from communities around Aotearoa NZ that are not well represented in tech and paired them with awesome tech industry mentors for a 9 month mentorship programme in leadership and technology.

Through this mentorship youth developed core leadership skills as well as further their learning journey in the tech field of their choice. They learned real world skills in a series of wānanga.

We provided the platform & resources for the leaders, as part of the programme, to set up a technology focused initiative within their local communities, This ranged from youth focused events at libraries, Marae’s, schools and community centres to tech projects aimed at helping their community through technology. These were student led initiatives that fed back into the community the leadership and tech skills they gained during the programme.

Technology programmes for Maori communities

e-Pou was an initiative born out of the Trusts desire to empower Maori communities to be in charge of their own destinies with technology, and to give them equitable access to knowledge and resources while they build this vision.

e-Pou was successfully funded through the Ka Hao Māori Digital Technology Development Fund. e-Pou’s focus was on providing workshops and resources in English and Te Reo Māori to help tamariki and rangatahi be more curious about technology and STEAM.

e-Pou combined the words electronic and pou (pillar) to create a hybrid word meaning digital or electronic pillar. At first glance, e-Pou is just an idea. However when one is looking into the meanings behind the name, e-Pou explains the very essence of this project.

Firstly, pou means to plant - It is important to inspire members of each community that technology is useful, easy and impactful. Our intention was to plant the seed of awareness for digital technology in our whanau, hapu and iwi, and various Maori communities.

Secondly, pou means to support. - The kaupapa of e-Pou is to build community and Maori-led digital education that was sustainable and relevant. Through participating each community involved in the e-pou project became a “pou” for their wider community

The e-Pou team worked with communities in the Waikato and South Auckland regions. Read the wrap up report here.

Volunteering with communities for education

Voluntari.ly was a dream of an online app that connects schools with corporate volunteers and short technology course content. Making it easy to get the ideas of our leading innovators into the minds of our students.

It was based on the premise that schools today need to teach digital technologies. There are training programmes (for teachers) dotted around the country but to truly excite the tamariki and rangatahi with new material, they need expert voices in the room, connecting them with a real-world context.

Enter NZ Inc. Our large corporations all have volunteer programmes. They want to give back to the communities they work in. For a variety of reasons, a lot of these volunteer hours remain unused.

The third side of the triangle is a vast range of digital technology content providers. There is a wealth of programmes out there, most free, that could be used in any situation. Schools lack the technical knowledge to take these and run them without expert assistance.

Voluntari.ly was an innovative marketplace that links the three sides seamlessly, facilitating long-lasting relationships that will create increased engagement and excitement into a burgeoning industry that sorely needs more Kiwis.

Voluntari.ly was an initiative by the Pam Fergusson Charitable Trust with support from Datacom, The Ministry of Education, Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), Spark Foundation, NZ Government Innovation Fund and many leading NZ corporates.

Voluntarily never launched as when Covid 19 hit, the main funder of the project, TEC withdrew their funding support. Due to the ongoing effects of covid19 on having volunteers in schools, this project was put on a hold until a future point when its mission can be fulfilled.  

Voluntarily is an open source project and anyone interested in continuing the mahi or using it for their own amazing idea will be able to find it on github.

Enviro-tech centre in Raglan

The Institute of Awesome is an enviro-tech education centre set on 100 acres of native bush, in Whale Bay, Raglan. They host enviro-tech camps for schools and community groups who want to have an immersive experience at the lodge, learning technology skills in a practical format. Activities include design, programming, engineering and electronics applied to projects in the outdoor environment. Inawe will continue to operate under a new entity supported by our founders.

During its time with the trust, the centre also hosted educators learning programming, electronics and the digital technology curriculum for schools. The workshops were single and multi day, and were also run along side kids enviro-tech camps so teachers and students could learn the technology curriculum together.

Lastly the centre hosts transformational multi-day un-conference style innovation experiences. Future leaders joined a cohort of others in the enviro-tech workshops to team build, learn some new tricks and make a difference to the environment and community at the same time.