About DTAC Wangaratta

The Digital Technologies Advisory Committee is a collection of organisations and individuals who are working hard to fix the problem our region is facing with Digital Inclusion. it started as a collaboration between the NE Tracks LLEN ( Local Learning and Employment Network), Local GOTAFE & Charles Sturt University.

When DTAC commence in 2016, the local Digital Inclusion score was 43.8. In the most recent report, they’ve shot past the 50% mark with a new scoring of 50.8 – an increase of 7%! (By comparison, Melbourne moved from 62.5% to 63.6% in the same period).

In Maree’s words:

• We do our own teacher workshops, and now collaborations for regional workshops with DLTV ( Digital Learning & Teaching Victoria, STAV Science teachers association, MAV maths teachers association & OZgrav at Swinburne)
• Also, a big focus is “girls in STEM” – we have had a number of these workshops including one of the coolest, where we have had FORD engineers travel to Wangaratta to work with our local girls.
• Last year with COVID put a bit of a halt on things, but we have created another partnership with One Giant Leap Australia Foundation, which have many cool space projects. The Kibo Challenge, seeds in space program – check out their website for more info.

“The formation of DTAC has to sit high up there with creating change and innovation in our community. We would never have thought we would have achieved all this.  There have been so many wonderful outcomes.”

Further link

• www.DTAC.zone

About Maree Timms

Maree grew up in Wangaratta and attended Monash University, becoming a science teacher & started teaching in 1986 in a very multicultural school. At 25 years old she taught in Turkey for 10 months and then backpacked across a variety of countries during a 2.5 year period. She moved to the Northern Territory to teach at Taminmin College for 4 years followed by Gunbalanya Community School for 10 years in Arnhemland where she “learnt more than I ever taught!!”. She returned to Wangaratta following this and has now been teaching at Galen Catholic College for the past 14 years.

In her words…

I’ve had way too many cool things happen in my teaching career.

• Taking a group of students from Humpty Doo ( Taminmin College) to Open the National Science week way back in 1994’s at Parliament house. Infront of Dr Karl Kruszelnickii!!  We created the Taminmin Magic Science Show!
• Taking a group of Indigenous kids ( Gunbalanya) to the Paralympic Games for the whole two weeks
• Taking a group of Indigenous Kids/parents and Elders ( Gunbalanya) to accept an award for a Claymation we created to Melbourne. ( It won NT film of the year!!)
• Winning the right to represent Australia at the VEX Worlds Robotics Championships, in 2018, 2019 and 2020 ( we couldn’t go in 2020)
• Being invited to have lunch with the Lead Scientist of Victoria in her office – with our robotics team
• Winning the Right to represent Australia in the 1st Kibo Challenge 2020 and see our student’s code control NASA’s Astrobee robot on the ISS.
• I still don’t know how to code…or build robots – but have taken teams to the highest level. I gather good allies/colleagues that have the skills I don’t have and compliment mine. Kids who are willing to learn and have a go and teach themselves! They are the YouTube and online forum generation! I coordinate, facilitate, and “hammer’ them on the communication, teamwork, organisation skills that helps to lead them to success.

Further links

• Maree on Twitter
• STEM Map (Dr Amanda Caples)
• Girls in STEM Map (Dr Amanda Caples)
• Superstars of STEM
• One Giant Leap Foundation, Kibo Challenge #2
• VEX Robotics
• Connecting to a LLEN network