Technolabs Gooise pre-vocational secondary schools were well attended: a fun introduction to modern technology and technology

On November 7, at 4:30 p.m
Education and science

Hilversum – Primary school students line up to visit different technology laboratories inside four pre-vocational secondary schools in ‘tjue. The number of visits now stands at more than 1,500, and 1,326 primary school students have already registered for the first months of this academic year.

Strong Technology Education (STO) Gooi hopes to get kids excited about education and careers in technology. “There is a significant shortage of technical and technological personnel, and the demand for well-trained professionals will increase in the coming years,” says the STO. “Despite the slight increase, very few young people are still choosing technical education. It is therefore important that more young people become interested in a career in technology.”

This is the purpose of the platform Succeed with technology, created by Sterk Techniek Onderwijs het Gooi, a partnership between schools from primary and secondary education, secondary vocational education and the business community. The result was the establishment of technology laboratories in pre-vocational secondary schools, Groot Goelant College and Hilversheim College in Hilversum, De Brink College in Laren, and Uvirta College in Naarden.

Special topics
The intention is for primary school students from Groups 7 and 8 in Het Gooi to visit all four. The purpose-developed spaces are designed so that students learn about modern technology and technology in a playful way, under the supervision of primary and secondary vocational education teachers. Each Technolab offers its own topics, tools and assignments based on the educational objectives of the Science and Technology subject, which primary schools are obliged to offer in the educational program from 2020. The topics are also related to the portfolios of pre-vocational secondary education in the upper grades.

(Text continues below image)

For example, by wearing VR glasses, students will research sustainable products, learn what a windmill does, that you can generate energy using the sun, design and program in VR, start using smart transportation, and create fake news using green screen technologies. And growing super strawberries using DNA research. New topics and activities are added all the time. Children are challenged to create and work together.

Optimal communication
The activities in Technolabs are also suitable for students of pre-vocational secondary education (lower secondary education) to support the LOB programme. This should create a pipeline of continuous learning and development from primary to pre-vocational secondary education and ensure optimal contact with profiles at higher levels of pre-vocational secondary education. Primary and secondary education students can fully immerse themselves in the world of engineering and technology at Technolab. Once you’re inspired and equipped, you can work with technology.