Roles are reversed with Tech Angels where teachers become students and the students are teachers.
Tech Angels evolved at Wellington Girls’ College (WGC) when the information and community technology (ICT) training needs of staff could not be met by the ICT staff available. A solution was sought and following similar schemes from overseas, students at WGC were called upon to help breach the gap and train teachers to use a software and/or hardware.
Designed to provide ‘on the spot’ and ‘just in time’ mentoring to staff, Tech Angels benefits both teachers and students. While teachers receive one-on-one training on software of their choice once a week, Tech Angels get to grow their ICT skills by freely exploring and testing, often high-end, software and hardware.
WGC Deputy Principal, Denise Johnson says Tech Angels encourages students to be leaders and innovators in ICT and it also provides them with invaluable mentoring and communication skills.
Regular training is provided to senior Tech Angels by multimedia training provider, Natcoll Design College.
Running since 2001, Tech Angels has proved popular with students and teachers alike and through publicity and word of mouth, enquiries about transferring the Tech Angels concept to other schools is growing. By bringing the Tech Angels initiative under the auspices of Digital Opportunities, WGC will be better supported to refine and solidify the initiative with the view to extending it to other schools.
