I discovered this tool recently and it has been helping me with digital art (home-made Christmas presents). You just upload an image and the site uses AI to decide what background to remove. There is a way to help it out by manually erasing or restoring areas of the image if needed. Downloading the result is simple.
Spent a day at IBM Auckland – it was inspiring!
The talented Edwina Mistry organised this event as an opportunity for teachers to make connections with local tech workplaces. The aim is to increase awareness and to guide our students toward tech-related careers.
We learned about initiatives aiming to help rangatahi become work-ready for ‘new collar’ jobs.
We spoke to young IBM staff about their roles and career journeys, and I was surprised to discover the wide range of qualifications and backgrounds represented.
Many discussions revolved around the importance of ‘soft skills’ -adaptability, teamwork and communication.
New ways of organising workplace tasks and teams are a big thing in the tech industry, and we were treated to an interesting presentation about the attributes and background of these.
Blockchain, AI, business systems improvement, P-Tech, chat-bots, digital badges, stretch opportunities – IBM is doing some fascinating and innovative things and my poor exhausted mind is full of observations and ideas – to be processed in due course!
One of those moments that remind a teacher why they are in the profession is when you see students go on to use the skills you taught them, and take them a thousand miles further then you had hoped.
Last night I visited a showcase at the Auckland University of Technology where students were presenting their projects. Two of my girls have just finished their first year of Tertiary study, and done some amazing things!
Angelica, Charina and I.
In The Bachelor of Creative Technologies students learn a whole lot of new skills in a fun range of fields. For their group projects they’re given a theme and then allowed to choose what they want to make and what medium they want to use. Sounds like every student’s dream assignment! They are able to let their creativity take flight – what a great way to learn!
We saw computer games, phone apps, e-textiles, 3D printing, jewellery, projection art, and more. The displays were all interactive and the students were able to explain what their aims were and how these influenced their choices during the design process. Very inspiring!
An image overlaid with projector art and a fun way of prototyping colours during design using a projector.
Textiles Lab samples
Find out more about AUT’s Colab at:
An interactive exhibit with a wellness theme. When users pin their comments to the garment a speaker is triggered to play positive messages.
Touching the images (plus the border) closes a circuit and sends a signal to the MakeyMakey, triggering it to change to a slide containing information relating to the item that was touched.
Mental-health themed jewellery – each item has a story behind it and is designed to give the wearer insight into the lives of sufferers.
Teacher Tech NZ 