E&OE TRANSCRIPT
Doorstop interview, Adelaide
Topics: Samsung SMARTSchool
21/02/2018
08:36AM
Simon Birmingham: This is a great example of university and industry collaboration to really boost teaching and school experience for South Australian students, and it’s very welcome. A big part of the Turnbull Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda has been about encouraging and inspiring greater collaboration between our researchers and our institutions, and industry and business, and I really want to give credit to the University of South Australia and Samsung for the partnership that they’ve built that is going to provide really practical breakthroughs for researchers, for teachers and for school students.
Question: Minister, do you agree with Tony Abbott that you should be cutting our immigration intake?
Simon Birmingham: I think the Treasurer has provided a comprehensive response on behalf of the Government to Mr Abbott’s comments today, and I’ll leave it at that.
Question: Do you agree with it or not?
Simon Birmingham: I think the Treasurer has provided a comprehensive response, and I’d refer you to his remarks.
Question: As in his comments are relevant with your own?
Simon Birmingham: The Treasurer’s spoken on behalf of the Government and I’d refer you to his remarks.
Question: What about the suggestion that this will bring negative aspects to our community?
Simon Birmingham: The Treasurer’s provided a comprehensive response on behalf of the Government to Mr Abbott’s comments, and I’d refer you to his remarks.
Question: [Indistinct] smart schools at a time when parents are encouraging students to switch off at the desk and [indistinct]. How does that [indistinct]?
Simon Birmingham: It’s critical that we use technology in education for good, not bad. Seventy per cent of the fastest growing jobs require STEM-rich skills, and so technology will play a big, big role, but it can also be a big distractor, can be used for bullying and terrible outcomes, and investments like this can help ensure that we focus children, in their use of technology and their knowledge of technological skills, to things that will help them succeed in life, but also to understand how best to manage technology to avoid the detriment that can occur too.
Question: Can you also just talk a little bit about the way that teachers can now learn how to use technology in the classroom?
Simon Birmingham: There’s enormous opportunities for teachers, in the different ways in which they deliver classes across a whole range of curriculum areas, to integrate teaching as part of their teaching methods. Again, it can’t be at the expense of learning the basics of literacy and numeracy, but it can absolutely help to make for a richer, more engaging classroom experience that also provides practical skills that children can take out of school into further education or the workplace. Thanks guys.