24 Mar 2021
For the past 4 weeks, a select group of students from the Virtual STEM Academy have been tasked with fixing the problems of tomorrow. Perhaps most exciting of all, they are learning from teachers and collaborating with peers across Australia and internationally.
The six Year 7 MRHS students are tasked with defending Tech Town from a variety of cyberattacks targeting electrical grids, water supplies, traffic lights, agritech, planes and trains using practical problem solving. It’s a fun and engaging way to teach the students about smart cities and their potential vulnerabilities from cyber terrorists.
“It’s a lot of fun,” says Soham, one of the students taking part in the trial, “The world is very evolved, and there is a lot more danger online than there was 50 years ago.”
“Technology is brilliant,” adds Emma, another participant in the trial, “but there is always a downside. It can open a smart city up to ransom, theft and cyberterrorism.”
The program is part of an international pilot run across New Zealand, Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory. MRHS has the distinction of being the only school in NSW to take part in the grand challenge.
“The Virtual STEM Academy gives students a chance to develop their enquiry based learning skills by solving real world problems” explains Ian Preston, the MRHS program supervisor, “It’s an opportunity for our students to collaborate with like-minded students across Australia and internationally.”
Aside from the practical component, children also have the opportunity to interface with cybersecurity and smart cities experts from the top of their field. Guest speakers such as Stephen Chey, a former IBM cybersecurity specialist, Dillon Furell from the Townsville Smart City Program , Mark Lehmann from Splunk , Courtney Lousley from Smart Cities New Zealand and Nathaniel Bavinton the Innovation and Futures Manager at the City of Newcastle have all taken the time to address the students.
The program will continue to ramp up throughout the year, with the Virtual STEM Academy expanding to broadcast lessons from Murrumbidgee Regional High School. It’s yet another way that MRHS is leading the way in STEM education.
