TECHNOLOGY skills were on display at Hamilton Parklands School last week, when senior students from Technology Group 2 presented the augmented reality pieces they made as part of the Indigital Schools program.

Over the course of 12 weeks, students in Technology Group 2 used Paint 3D and Minecraft Education to create an object of their choice from the Budj Bim creation story and bring it to life using augmented reality.

Various digital objects were on display including a cockatoo, fish, and a stone house, with each piece having an individual QR code that when scanned with a device brought the Minecraft Education scene to life, where it could be viewed from every angle.

During their Indigital Showcase last Thursday, students shared their augmented reality pieces with classmates, family, and friends, where they discussed the object they chose, their favourite part of the project, and what they found to be the most challenging.

Hamilton Parklands School classroom and technology teacher, Sam Williams, said this was the first year the school had run the program and all students involved were thrilled to learn new computer programs.

“Paint 3D isn’t something that we’d used before and Minecraft Education isn’t something they’ve ever had a chance to use at school,” she said.

“A lot of them have had experience with Minecraft in their own time and I think that was the hook with a lot of them.

“They were really engaged with being able to use that.”

Ms Williams said the Indigital program was an exciting edition to the school’s technology classes that improved the students’ computer literacy skills and confidence.

“It’s quite involved and it’s something we’ve never had an opportunity to do at school before,” she said.

“We’re still researching what we can do with it and we’ve signed up to the program for the next two years.

“They used all new skills that they hadn’t used before.

“They used a 2D photo to then trace in Paint 3D and make into a 3D animation (and) their scene was created in Minecraft Education.”

While the program challenged the students, Ms Williams said they found it extremely rewarding and their efforts should be celebrated.

The Indigital Schools program is Australia wide and invites Indigenous and non-Indigenous students from Foundation to Year 10 to discover and explore their local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural knowledge, histories and languages using Minecraft Education.