One of the most rewarding (and successful) aspects of being involved in the Discovery School Programme has been the opportunity for students to present aspects of their learning to adults at workshops and conferences. Last term we were invited to talk about how students use technology to enhance their learning to a group of TAFE managers at the Douglas Mawson Institute at Port Adelaide. The purpose of the presentation was to give TAFE educators an insight into how primary students learn and to think about how this impacts on catering for their clients of the future. This presentation was so successful that Michael Coghlan, a TAFE Professional Development officer in online learning asked if our team would like to present the same information at the WebCT Asia Pacific Conference at the Hilton Hotel (April 11th) . All members of the team were very excited about the opportunity and wanted to be part of it.

During the presentation (which went fantastically well) Kat gave the audience information about Grange and introduced each group. Hayley M. highlighted her work on "Road Testing a Reptile", (she had to stand on a chair to see over the lecturn). Nicolas, Patrice and Daniel described how the Learning Technology Student Voice operates. Ben explained how his class developed Grange's Website and demonstrated parts of it. Tiahna and Stephanie shared parts of their work on Clean Waters -Kircaldy Creek, (which is also on our website).

Izy, Jasmin, Rebecca and Hayley K. shared their work on Adolescent Culture and their iMovie end product.

Afterwards I asked the students to reflect on the experience, all of the responses were positive, such as:.

What the Students Thought:

"It was good because I got to talk about my learning in front of lots of people". (Stephanie yr. 4).

"I was excited to have the opportunity and glad I did it. Now I feel really confident about speaking in front of a lot of people". (Izy yr. 7).

"I feel excellent about it because there were lots of people and they applauded me." (Hayley yr. 3).

"I felt nervous because I had never done it before, but happy I did because I felt very proud speaking in front of others." (Daniel yr. 6).

"The room was big, I felt good being involved." (Tiahna yr. 4).

"The Hilton was very flashy. It was good because of what you got for lunch". (Nicholas yr. 4)

"It was fun speaking in front of everyone. I used to be nervous now I feel confident." (Jasmin yr. 7).

"I was nervous at the start. Afterwards I felt happy with myself and feel I would like to do it again." (Hayley yr. 7)

"It helped me to learn to speak fluently to a large audience." (Rebecca year 7).

Congratulations and thank you to all the students involved (including Lauren Williams who video taped the presentation). Your skills and talents are outstanding and your commitment to your learning is inspirational, just ask Michael Coghlan or any of the people that were in the audience at Port Adelaide TAFE and The Hilton.

Theo Schlooz Discovery School Project Manager