Teaching & Learning Update – Term 3 Week 6
In a time of rapid technological change, Newman College is proud to be the first school in Western Australia to offer an AI course approved by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) as a School-Developed Endorsed course. This course not only prepares students for life after school but also contributes credits towards their Western Australian Certificate of Education.
Our course, AI Empowerment: Equipping Students for an Intelligent Future, is designed to meet the needs of students in Western Australia today. To thrive in modern society, every person needs to be ‘digitally literate’—meaning they should have the basic digital skills to succeed in the workplace (Bawden, 2008). By 2030, there will be a demand for 161,000 specialist AI workers in Australia (CSIRO, 2019), which makes it crucial that we equip our students with the skills and knowledge they will need in an AI-driven world.
Students graduating in 2030, like those currently in Year 6, will face this new reality, yet many of them, and those in later years, currently have limited understanding of AI. Our course aims to fill this gap, focusing on empowering students, particularly those in Years 10-12, as they prepare for life after school. Whilst mapping our digital technology electives in the middle secondary school to begin empowerment even earlier.
It is vital that schools, from primary through to secondary, teach AI concepts so that future generations can become informed citizens who understand the technologies they use every day. Students need to develop AI literacy to live, learn, and work in the digital world (Steinbauer et al., 2021). By giving secondary students, the chance to learn about the basics of AI—its science, possibilities, limits, and social and economic impacts—we prepare them for further AI studies or careers (Heintz, 2021). Introducing AI concepts early in their education sets a strong foundation for their future, fostering curiosity and innovation in young minds and setting them up for lifelong learning and exploration.
Our course emphasises real-world learning experiences. Through hands-on activities, students see how AI can automate and enhance tasks (Ali et al., 2022). The course also nurtures creativity—a uniquely human trait that is less likely to be automated. Encouraging creativity helps students use AI to generate new ideas and innovative solutions, making them more employable in the future. As AI becomes part of many industries, understanding AI concepts, applications, and ethics will become even more valuable. This course prepares students for success, whether they choose AI-related careers or become developers of AI technologies. It also helps develop a generation of AI-literate professionals who can navigate and contribute to our rapidly changing technological world and understand their ethical responsibilities when using AI.
By introducing AI concepts before students reach tertiary education or the workforce, and by focusing on critical thinking, ethics, practical skills, and future readiness, this course helps schools equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive in the 21st century as traditional academic learning alone no longer meets the demands of the modern world (World Economic Forum, 2016).