Interactive School Technology Highlights Trend

News Release
12 October 2009

New Interactive School Technology Highlights Alarming Trend

Tertiary institutes are lagging in popularity with 14 and 15 year old secondary school students when compared to other available career opportunities. This alarming trend is the unexpected result of a partner report generated by Inzone’s new interactive careers network.

Over the past six months their innovative touch-screen career kiosks have been deployed in a pilot group of 100 of the country’s largest secondary schools.

Specifically developed by The Inzone Experience to help teenagers access wide amounts of careers information, the kiosks enable students to identify their potential future career path within successful New Zealand companies, enterprises, industry and tertiary education providers in a secure environment.

Inzone managing director, Simon Holbrook, says during the project’s pilot almost 10,000 students registered online to find out about career options. This sample base of students validates Inzone’s analysis to within a 95 percent confidence level of accuracy around these emergent trends.

“What has been very clear is both 14 and 15 year old males and females are more interested in the Defence forces, apprenticeship training and what entrepreneurial New Zealand firms are achieving than study options at a tertiary institute or university.”

He says Year 9 and 10 students have to make subject choices under the NCEA curricula, which allow them to achieve their career aspirations.

“Critically this is the age when students can be most influenced. They are about to make course selections which impact on their future decisions around tertiary study.”

The Inzone careers kiosks have proven highly popular with schools and students alike; Holbrook says they are already over-subscribed with a waiting list of schools wanting to install them. Inzone anticipate 80,000 secondary students will register online by the end of this academic year.

“Given the reach and influence of the kiosk network we really want to expand our involvement with universities to ensure students are aware of all the opportunities and experiences available to them.

“Failure to address these year groups adequately could generate a potential drop in university registrations within three years. This is alarming and we have been surprised to discover this trend.”

The Inzone kiosks have taken over a year to develop and have evolved from the Inzone Experience Careers programme.

Originally founded in 2003 by Canterbury entrepreneur, Peter Doake, the Inzone Experience commenced life as a motivational programme to encourage and inspire New Zealand children.

During its operation more than 250,000 students took part in the Inzone Roadshow. Of these, however, Inzone found, on average, less than one percent had any ambition to become an entrepreneur, with only around a quarter of any audience having a clear idea of what career they would follow.

This led to the creation of the Inzone Mobile Careers Unit – a state-of-the-art mobile careers expo which is sighted by over 40,000 students each year at schools throughout the country.

The kiosks take the Inzone careers experience even further by being permanently based in each school and available to them throughout the academic year.

The patent pending kiosk design brings together a collection of technologies into a fixed axis point in each school. Usually based in the school library or gateway career room, the kiosk enables each student to view media about a wide variety of career options.

Inzone CEO, Peter Doake, says the state-of-the-art kiosks are touch screen and simple to use.

“The kiosks are accessible for all year groups with something for everyone. For school leavers undecided on their next step, the kiosk provides an opportunity to find a way forward in life. New entrants have the opportunity to find a career they can be passionate about and then select the right subjects for study to maximise their opportunity to advance in these industries.

“Once registered, students self-select from a range of careers media displayed on the kiosks. To get more information on the selected industry, they simply press ‘yes’ before watching something else. From these positive registrations we obtain a highly accurate overview of what career options most appeal to students in any age group.”

He says the kiosks ensure all students have the opportunity to make informed, practical career decisions and sound subject selections.

“Inzone works closely with NZTE and other major industry sectors and commercial partners, as well as tertiary and training institutes, to provide the best possible information.

“Because the kiosks are easily accessible they form a direct link between schools and industry to promote, build and inspire tomorrow’s workforce. The kiosks give our schools unprecedented access to the latest careers information and a fantastic multi-media snapshot of the employment and training opportunities available in New Zealand today.

“Currently around 20 industry sectors can be viewed on the kiosks and we are continually expanding the career options and media available.”

Schools can lease Inzone’s kiosks, worth $20,000 each, for less than $200 per week.

ENDS

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