Knowledge festival shows how broad technology education can be

You don't need a science background to bring technology and engineering into the classroom. During the Education & Technology Knowledge Festival on Wednesday, January 28th, education professionals discovered a surprising variety of ways to use technology in the classroom. At Summa in Eindhoven, nearly 600 visitors gained inspiration through workshops, presentations, and an inspiration market.

The festival's theme, "Get to Know, Create a Future," immediately takes on meaning during the opening. Visitors will not only be introduced to the possibilities of technical education, but also to each other. Annemarie Moons, director of Summa Eindhoven, emphasizes this in her speech. "Connection between childcare, primary and secondary education, and vocational education is incredibly important. By bringing professionals from all these sectors together today, they will more easily connect later. "Together you can do more" is Summa's motto for a reason. This motto aligns perfectly with the goal of Tech Square, a program that will kick off during the opening. The goal? To help schools sustainably strengthen technology education, partly by encouraging collaboration. "Schools are exploring how they want to do this with a Techkwadraat broker," says Paul Hulshoff, education project leader at Brainport Development. "They'll be there today. So talk to them, get in touch, and clear your calendars to schedule an appointment."

The precise possibilities for bringing technology into the classroom will be demonstrated at the inspiration market, among other places. A tour of the market reveals the breadth of technology education: you'll find drones, robots, and even a welding simulator, as well as products that combine technology with sustainability, creativity, or language development. One example is the Greenscreenbox, which allows children to take photos and videos while choosing their own background. "With the push of a button, you can be on the moon," explains sales representative Anneke van Soest. "Teachers can use this as a tool in their lessons. For example, have children reenact a historical scene or plan their ideal vacation. I want to show that technology can also be linguistic and creative."

Anneke will explain how teachers can use the box in a workshop that same afternoon. Workshops are plentiful, covering a wide range of topics. For example, there will be presentations and workshops on the use of storytelling in technology education, the role of AI, and Challenge-Based Learning. Sometimes participants will get hands-on, other times more theoretical. A presentation on how to get the entire school team on board with building technology education focuses on change management. Aranka Werson, a biology and science teacher at Parmant Joris in Eindhoven, explains afterward: "Inquiry-based learning and researching learning are very valuable, but getting others on board can be challenging. Knoster's change model, which was discussed in the presentation, really stuck with me. There are five conditions for change, and if one is missing, it leads to problems. If I notice any frustration later, I'll revisit the model. Perhaps my plan or vision wasn't clear. Insights like these are why I enjoy being here. I love learning new things."

Femke Engelen, a visual arts and pre-vocational secondary education (HAVOP) teacher at Macropedius in Gemert, is one of those experienced teachers attending a Trion workshop. "I've been teaching HAVOP since this school year, a subject that combines practice and theory, where students work on assignments from the business world. Because it's still relatively new to me, I'm curious how other schools approach it. There was plenty of opportunity for that during the HAVOP workshop. Very valuable!" Although learning more about HAVOP is her main goal this afternoon, something else also catches her attention during a tour of the inspiration market. "Architecture lessons. As a visual arts teacher, I find that very interesting. This organization gives guest lectures at school, and I'm a big fan of that: this way, students see what happens in the 'real world' and they don't just learn from books." It's Femke's first Knowledge Festival, but it's left her wanting more. "Points for improvement? I don't really have any. I like the combination of focused workshops and an inspiration market where you can browse more freely." Plus, I see quite a few familiar faces. That makes it even more fun.