Technology helps tamariki share their stories and build stronger connections to the world
By Dr Andrea Milligan
At Nōku te Ao Capital E, we are testing and trialing new programmes to deepen the ways ākonga use digital technologies to connect in innovative ways, as we move into a new era.
We’ve been collaborating with Tairangi School in Porirua and Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington to develop exciting new digital programmes that have real life applications. This helps us explore how classroom learning can be integrated with MediaLab and OnTV, our purpose-built learning studios, building on our long legacy of working with educators from schools around our city, region, and Aotearoa to develop curriculum-linked experiences to meet the needs of different schools.
To explore ways in which students might use digital tools to tell their stories, we’ve worked with kaiako to build their own digital confidence. At an Excite Day at Tairangi School last month for everyone in the school community, each kaiako ran a digital activity with a Nōku te Ao Capital E learning specialist . Ākonga moved through activities in 30-minute rotations, including playfully exploring sand and lightboxes, making three dimensional images of taonga, creating holograms, and filming their own stop-motion animations. The day was full of wonder, energy, and opportunities to reflect on how each tool could help them tell stories.
This is what we do at Nōku te Ao Capital E where ākonga play with purpose. Creativity, collaboration, fun, and quirkiness are all part of our experiences.
Digital learning is so much more than just asking ākonga to use an app or a digital platform. We want to develop digital confidence and use this to encourage students to pass on knowledge about Te Whanganui-a-Tara and places they connect to, share pūrākau and stories, and contribute to the vibrancy of places they love.
“Digital learning is so much more than just asking ākonga to use an app or a digital platform.”
A good example is Delightex. This web-based tool lets ākonga create and explore three dimensional worlds. When we launch this programme next year, ākonga will be able to share what they love about their community by taking 360-degree photos and annotating the images with words and voice notes. With this, they could, for example, highlight their community’s strengths and share their suggestions for change.
Another programme in the wings is a collaboration with Wellington Museum. Ākonga will visit the museum in the morning to explore their roles as kaitiaki of the whenua and consider how land can be a source of creativity, knowledge and wonder. In the afternoon they will come to MediaLab to design a game which aims to teach others about protecting the environment. This will support the sustainability activities they see and do every day, giving them the opportunity to share what they do or want to do with their families or schools.
A new music-making programme in MediaLab is yet another example, where ākonga collaborate to represent a whetū from the Matariki cluster as a soundscape, bringing their classroom knowledge to life with BandLab software.
We are incredibly grateful to Tairangi School Tumuaki Jason Ataera, his teachers, ākonga and school community, and to Dr Ben Egerton, Te Herenga Waka Victoria University, and Te Kura o Hanana Shannon School Tumuaki Rochelle Thorn for their collaboration and willingness to explore creative possibilities.
We are equally grateful to ākonga and kaiako from Naenae College, Birchville School, Holy Cross School and Ngāti Toa School who have also been giving us specific feedback on how to update our OnTV and MediaLab programmes. As always, we’ve found when we give ākonga the space to use their voice and agency they have so much to share.
“We’ve found when we give ākonga the space to use their voice and agency they have so much to share.”
As the head of the Learning Team at Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington, I cannot wait until Nokū te Ao Capital E moves into Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui Wellington’s central library, right in the heart of our city, next year. We’ll be ready to roll out our new programmes from Term 2 2026, so every student who walks through our doors can see, tell and share their stories inside and outside the classroom.
Dr Andrea Milligan is Learning Manager at Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington.