Guest lecture at Marymount College

Our school (faculty) at SCU offers local schools free guest lectures, as a means of engaging with the community and 'giving back' our research and learning. I've given a few guest lectures at local schools but on Monday I went further afield, to Marymount College in Burleigh Waters in Queensland, to teach a class on Business Communication Technologies.

The day dawned and did not seem to be boding well for me: the Subaru was kaputt, and due to a paralysis tick bite which made my arm swell painfully I was unable to ride my motorcycle. I took the Hilux instead and sweltered in very slow congested traffic, worried about getting lost or arriving late. When I got there the head teacher who was to meet me alas did not arrive, and I was shown to her classroom by a friendly staff member. However it appeared I was supposed to be in another classroom instead! A bit of a muddled start. However, with the arrival of the teacher Kylie, everything seemed to flow and it all started to happen.

Kylie is one of those amazing secondary school teachers who has just the right touch with teenagers. She was brilliant at addressing short attention spans as well as un-tucked shirts and distracting mobile phones, all without engendering resentment or those rolled eyes that teens can be so good at. I think I could learn a lot from just watching someone like Kylie all day.

The students were quiet at first but as the class went on became more and more engaged and interested as I showed films and clips, and took them through the slides I had made. The class finished with two breakout groups discussing the advantages and disadvantages of engaging in social media.

At the end of class they presented me with a very nice card and we took a group photo. The students suggested I put this photo and talk about the visit on my blog, so this is what I'm doing!

Thank you students of Marymount: I had a very nice time with you!

And here are the lecture slides: