TŌNUI Collab

PĀ HANGARAU Our tamariki are creators! innovators! problem solvers! storytellers! This week our team have been with ngā tamariki o Te Pa Wānanga o Tauritoatoa. Massive ngā mihi nunui Koka Zoey and Te Whānau a Apanui for inviting us to share the Pā Hangarau kaupapa at Pararaki Marae. Pā Hangarau is a kaupapa that invites tamariki to experiment with the diversity of STEMM - creating, coding, testing, experimenting, working the iterative design process like our tīpuna did mai rā anō. This kaupapa is a reminder that we have never been passive consumers, creative solution making is in our DNA. This kaupapa invites whānau to learn alongside their tamariki and to wānanga about the potential benefits and risks with technology. It’s a kaupapa designed to address hangarau pathway inequities and help whānau develop greater awareness of opportunities. We appreciate the support from The Tindall Foundation and Tech Step NZ for partnering with us on Pā Hangarau so that the barriers to STEMM learning are overcome and our tamariki can learn and thrive in STEMM through our culturally affirming and sustaining practices. #stemlearning #stemeducation #kidswhocode #maoriintech #digitalequity #maraebased #hangaraumatihiko #virtualreality #robotics #pathways

In 2024, our Director Shanon O'Connor received the CIO awards Community Tech Champions’ award. It was rewarding to have Tōnui Collab’s efforts to address digital inequity and support more rangatahi Māori to explore, create, and thrive with tech. Attending these awards also gave us the opportunity to meet and forge relationships with leaders in tech, some of whom are now contributing to our various kaupapa #kōhinerobotics #pāhangarau #maoriintech #kidswhocode #stempathways

SUPORTING TAUIRA MĀORI TO EXPLORE, CREATE AND THRIVE I TE AO HANGARAU When we partner with kura to learn the fundamentals of computational thinking, we start the exploration ‘unplugged’ or kaua i matihiko. We are the only bilingual or reo rua STEMM education partners in Aotearoa and we are committed to facilitating i te reo Māori as well as contextualising the learning i te ao Māori. Recently in a workshop we reflected on the pūrākau o Hinatore and the journey Tane and Uepoto went on to reach the light, our tauira composed ‘algorithms’ to direct their peers through the darkness, developing an understanding of abstraction, decomposition, pattern recognition and sequencing. They gamified the debugging process with humour and theatrics before being invited to transfer their new knowledge to robotics. While the Ministry of Education New Zealand has removed professional learning and development support for digital fluency, technology is still an essential part of the NZ Curriculum and our team helps kaiako to understand how to design cross-curriculum learning experiences that bridge numeracy, literacy science and technology through culturally affirming lens. #stemlearning #stemeducation #matauranga #csunplugged #computationalthinking #kidswhocode #maoriintech #gisborne #tairawhiti

Shanon O'Connor laying the wero to our education leaders to support our kaiako and whānau to create safe digital learning environments for our tamariki….

We're lookng for a new Lead STEMM Navigator to join our team. Based in the sunny Tairāwhiti, this is a really impactful and varied role - If you're interested in designing and facilitating a range of STEMM workshops and wānanga i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā this could be the role for you. Primarily based in our lab on the Mātai Medical Research Institute campus, we are also regularly in marae across the rohe for various STEMM kaupapa. Feel free to share with your networks or click to find out more.

Yesterday, I had the honour of supporting Te Hapori Matihiko at Papakura High School for a Māori Digitech Futures kaupapa. Playing an iti role alongside Elle Archer, Lee Timutimu, Pera Barrett, Katerina Kupenga, Maryanne Madden and Tevan Brandt, I was able to sit with kaiako and tauira from Manurewa High School and Te Putahi Māori o Manurewa. We had kōrero about what efforts need to be made to stregthen pathways for Māori to thrive in tech, mō tātou, ā, mō kā uri ā muri ake nei. In reflection, participation in this kaupapa also filled me with gratitude for people working in tech who contribute to various TŌNUI Collab kaupapa in Te Tairāwhiti, they way they show up and share with our taitamariki helps them to gain awareness of the opportunities in tech. Ngā mihi nunui koutou. Shairae Taepa Leigh Potter Jahminique Grace Rose Schwass Melka Oakley Renee Raroa Toha Network Te Huiarei Wano Barry Soutar TORO Technology New Zealand Mātai Medical Research Institute Stu Potter Raukura Riwaka Eva Riddell Cain Kerehoma Phil Kupenga Digital Future Aotearoa Kate Allan

Thanks to our present and past funders, we have the privilege to partner with kura to create meaningful STEMM learning experiences for ākonga and kaiako alike. From robotics to chemistry, electronics to animation, supporting ākonga to experiment and create in ways that celebrate tīpuna Māori me te ao Māori and helps bring our storytelling skills into the present day learning experiences. In the digital realm our ākonga have created virtual reality experiences that gamify the adventures of Maia Poroaki and his hue collection and creates computer games that gamify Hinehakirirangi, kaitiaki o te kumara. We look forward to continuing this mahi in 2025. Microsoft Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou Te Hapori Matihiko The Gattung Foundation The Tindall Foundation J R McKenzie Trust Te Huarahi Tika Trust Spark Foundation Trust Tairāwhiti InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa Ministry of Education New Zealand

Our Kōhine Robotics kaupapa has been successful this year because of the generous support from our numerous partners and collaborators. We want to thank the many wāhine that have shared their experiences with the kōhine in this kaupapa through their participation at different wānanga, their contributions are inspiring our future STEMM leaders. Ngā mihi nunui Shairae Taepa, Leigh Potter, Taylor Emsden, Melka Oakley, Te Huiarei Wano, Rose Schwass, Michelle Hazeleger-Mollard, Eva Riddell, Ana Kahika, Jahminique Grace, Te Aomihia Boyd. We also want to thank the many kaiako who have supported the kōhine in this kaupapa, many of these wāhine Māori have expressed how this kaupapa has positively shifted their awareness and made tech opportunities more visible to them, they take these new insights back to their kura and hapori whānui so that everyone might know what the future of tech can look like.

Last month we celebrated the kōhine who had participated in our Kōhine Robotics kaupapa in 2024. This video provides our supporters with a small insight to the kaupapa and the impact it has on our kōhine. Wāhine Māori have been marginalised in the tech industry and this kaupapa has been designed to disrupt the pakaru pipeline into tech for our kōhine. Robotic Engineering plays a strong role in the kaupapa but there is also significant focus on hautūtanga / leadership, with kōhine examining the character traits of our tīpuna wāhine and looking for ways to strengthen these character traits in themselves. Future possibilities are also a focus of the kaupapa, kōhine learn about different study and career pathways and they hear from wāhine thriving in tech roles and kōrero about the paths these women took into tech. It's been a privilege to partner with 100 kōhine from 15 kura across Te Tairāwhiti this year and we have a lot of gratitude for the kaiako who are supporting these kōhine back at kura. The interest for this kaupapa is growing and we look forward to supporting more kōhine to grow and thrive in STEMM in 2025. Massive thanks to Angela Gattung and The Gattung Foundation, Te Huarahi Tika Trust, InternetNZ | Ipurangi Aotearoa, Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou, The Ministry of Education New Zealand, Te Hapori Matihiko, Digital Future Aotearoa, Mātai Medical Research Institute, Kiwibots and Te Poho o Rawiri Marae for partnering with us on this kaupapa. [ Post 1 of 2 ] Shout outs to all the individuals who have contributed to this kaupapa in the next post....