Last year Cudgegong Valley Public School took out the Department of Education's inaugural Game Changer Challenge and now a new team has qualified to represent the school once again at the state competition.
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The Department has announced the 18 schools - nine teams each from NSW public primary and secondary schools - that will take part in the event, which will be held in Sydney during Education Week (August 5-9).
Finalists were selected from 100 entries across the state and were based on a 60-second video application outlining their ideas on how we might humanise technology. The 'Cudgegong Crusaders' concept is the Educational Learning Device (ELD).
It's a "multipurpose smart-box" that sits in view of the learner and has an in-built camera, projector and connects to wifi, which teaches you how to do different tasks by projecting guidance and feedback - offering less help as you develop the new skill.
With last year's winners now at high school a new CVPS team has been selected. Charlie Johanson, Oliver Evans, Phoebe Virgona, Chloe Green, Jessica Orren, and Sarah Stewart, say that "we're not the carryover champs, we're a different team with a different idea and a different topic".
And they're looking forward to everything from the workshops to the flight to the event.
CVPS principal Michelle Neaverson-Smith said when she told the students they had been successful and were going to Sydney "they all screamed, cheered and cried, they were so excited". However she said the new team knew it had big shoes to fill after last year's team took out the primary school champion trophy.
The school selected its team by asking students to submit an expression of interest to be part of the challenge and had more than 40 applications.
The 'Cudgegong Crusaders' will join the other 17 finalists for a three-day, intensive design-thinking workshop in Sydney. They'll also take part in a Q&A-style panel moderated by Department of Education Secretary Mark Scott that will include some of the nation's leading futurists, philosophers and leaders of industry.
Day one of the program will be spent at Google's Australian headquarters in Pyrmont, Sydney, providing students with an opportunity for an industry immersion experience.
During the team competition they will work under the guidance of industry professionals in fields as diverse as technology, creative design and ethics to answer the question on how we might humanise technology. The challenge winner will be selected after a Shark Tank-style pitch to industry and education experts.
Education Week is an annual statewide event held to highlight the achievement of public schools and their students. The theme for 2019 is 'Every Student, Every Voice'.
