Kangan Institute ICT departments 2012 Upload Your Future event a success

The ICT department at Kangan Institute held an event in April to promote the benefits of a career in information technology called Upload Your Future. This industry-led information session was a chance for students from around Melbourne to get the facts on technology courses and careers from the people studying and working in the field. The department's aim was to show students that there's a fun side to the ICT industry with speakers from a wide range of companies delivering presentations on how ICT is used within their respective businesses. Guest speakers included Mark Flanagan (educator, artist and architect) and Dalal Hanna, teacher at TAFE who completed her Advanced Diploma of Information Technology (Networking) at Kangan Institute and used a pathway to graduate with a Bachelor of Information Technology at La Trobe University. Activities on the day were varied. A green screen special effects room was provided where students were able to participate and learn how to use the green screen in our specialist recording studio. Building a home network was also touched upon where students were taught about networking (with handouts provided to supplement the information on the day).A Photoshop workshop taught the basics of editing photos with each school receiving copies of student work. To keep things fun and interesting on the day, a gaming arena competition was held utilising the popular Nintendo Wii, with the winning school and student coming away with prizes on the day. Terry McNamara, ICT Manager at Kangan Institute, said he was most pleased with the reception the event received.. "Our aim was to showcase the fantastic and exciting benefits of a career in IT and the ways Kangan Institute could help students get to where they wanted after school," he said. "We're pleased and excited that so many students found benefit in what this event had to offer." The following schools attended: Hume Central Loyola College (Watsonia) Craigieburn Secondary Whittlesea Secondary Catholic Regional College (Caroline Springs) Gladstone Park Secondary The overall response from the students was positive, with a survey showing that most found the event fun, entertaining and most importantly, informative.