We are Clare and Rachael, two Australian teachers with a love for digital learning, creativity, and all things learning. After years of sharing ideas in schools, we’re taking our conversations to the world to help you bring technology into your classroom with confidence.

In this trailer, you’ll get to know us, our teaching journeys, and the story behind Tech It Up a Notch.

Got a question or a tool you’d love us to explore? Email us at techitupanotchau@gmail.com — we’d love to hear from you!

In this episode, we’re taking coding off the screen and into the air! Rach shares how she used DroneBlocks and Tello drones as part of a cross-curricular STEM project exploring the sustainability of a local river.

Key Takeaways

• DroneBlocks is a great place to begin with a whole-class drone experience, allowing students to practise coding and test flight paths in a simulator before moving to physical drones.
• Tello drones can bring coding to life by allowing students to see their algorithms control a real-world device.
• Plan for technology to be temperamental! Battery life, connectivity and equipment faults can have a big impact, so having technical support and backup activities is valuable.
• Create a clearly defined flying zone and establish safety routines before launching the drones, including goggles, tied-back hair and keeping students behind a designated boundary.
• You don't need a drone for every student. Small groups or rotating activities can provide opportunities to code and fly without having a whole class of drones in the air at once.
• Drones offer rich cross-curricular opportunities, connecting digital technologies with science, mathematics, engineering, geography, design thinking and creative arts.
• Be prepared to experiment alongside your students. You don't need to have everything worked out before giving a new technology a go — sometimes the unexpected learning is the best part.

Resources mentioned

• DroneBlocks
• Droneblocks FREE ‘Crazyflie Simulator (follow the link to grab the pin - top tip, write it on your board for the month and leave it there!)
• Tello drones

Writing reports is one of the biggest time commitments in a teacher's year, but what if AI could help without replacing your professional voice?

In this episode, Claire shares how she used Gemini Canvas to build a custom report comment generator using her own bank of previously approved report comments. Rather than asking AI to write reports from scratch, she demonstrates how teachers can use AI to organise and streamline their existing expertise while preserving their authentic teacher voice.

Key takeaway

AI works best as an assistant, not an author. By building tools around your own resources and expertise, you can save time while ensuring your professional judgement and teacher voice remain at the heart of student reports.

Resources mentioned

• Clare’s how to guide to creating a report comment assistant
• Google Gemini Canvas
• Google Sites
• Canva Create
• Apple Learning Summit