ABOUT 50 high school students in Rockhampton took to coding and robotics to learn about how technology is changing careers in agriculture, thanks to a series of microcredential courses designed to upskill their teachers.

The Cathedral College students in Rockhampton took part in the microcredential, Next-Gen Ag Teachers, a course that their teachers had recently completed through a professional development opportunity provided by CQUniversity and the Queensland Government microcredentialing program.

CQUniversity has developed five microcredentials to upskill agricultural teachers so they can impart the knowledge and understanding that their students will need for future careers in the sector.

“We delivered the microcredentials across the State with more than 500 completions by both primary and secondary teachers,” explained Dr Jaime Manning, Senior Lecturer in Agriculture.

“The goal was to showcase how agriculture is changing, and get students to consider the world of agricultural work.”

Dr Manning explained that many of the teachers who participated in the program had little agricultural knowledge or qualifications.

“We have a shortage of qualified teachers in Queensland that can teach agriculture, so we developed these microcredentials to showcase to them the various ways they can embed agricultural concepts into their curriculum, into their classrooms, regardless of what they are teaching.”

As part of the agricultural technology experience at The Cathedral College, students learnt how to code small Edisson robots to perform a series of agricultural tasks on a micro-scale.

The Cathedral College Agriculture Teacher Helen Harmsworth praised the microcredential courses offered by CQUniversity, saying it was having a positive impact on their school.

“From someone that is new to teaching agriculture, it was a fantastic opportunity to learn how to embed technology into our curriculum,” Miss Harmsworth said.

“So, we decided to expose the students to what we learnt through the course, and through this event they are learning how to code robots and use technology to minimise manpower on farms.”

Dr Manning said the high-energy event at The Cathedral College showcased what a career in agriculture could look like in the future.