Computational Making & Learning for Creative Educators
Dr. Gary Stager is bringing an exciting new workshop to Melbourne, Victoria 27 February 2026!
Computational making recognizes that the future is computational. Making things with code expands the creative canvas, supercharges mathematical thinking, and positions learners to explore the frontiers of nearly any discipline.
Developing computational fluency allows students of all ages to solve problems, make cool things, and make things work. Exciting new software tools allow teachers and students to engage in computational making without the barriers posed by syntax in traditional programming languages.
This workshop’s playful and practical experiences will help any educator shape the learning environment to support computational making and help students learn and do in ways unimaginable before. This approach offers an optimistic learner-centered vision of artificial intelligence that amplifies human potential grounded in timeless progressive traditions.
“If you can make things with technology, then you can make a lot more interesting things. And learn a lot more by making them.”
– Seymour papert
Project-based learning (PBL) appeals to many educators, even those who don’t know where to start or are unclear what exactly constitutes a project. By recasting PBL as a “Learning Adventure” we can celebrate connections, wonder, inquiry, research, and depth. Participants will be inspired to level-up and create learning adventures in their classrooms using exciting new software environments and a project-approach.
The Workshop’s Learning Adventures Include
- Computational design with Turtle Art
- Designing microworlds with Snap!
- Physical computing with the BBC micro:bit
- Vibecoding
- The Wolfram Notebook Assistant + LLM Kit
What’s Included?
- Full-day hands-on workshop
- Copy of the new book, The Learner’s Apprentice – AI and the Amplification of Human Creativity ($47 value)
- Light lunch
Who Should Attend?
- Primary school teachers
- Maths, ICT, Computer Science educators
- Makerspace educators
- Directors of teaching and learning
- School leaders
- No coding experience required!
Bring a laptop and your imagination. We’ll supply the rest!
Workshop Leader
Dr. Gary Stager is a veteran teacher educator with more than four decades of experience helping schools makes sense of an increasingly complex and technologically sophisticated world. He played a substantial role in realizing 1:1 computing in schools, project-based online learning, and the book he co-authored, Invent To Learn: Making Tinkering, and Engineering in Classroom, has been called “the bible of the maker movement in schools.” That book has now been translated into ten languages. A primary school teacher by training, Dr. Stager has taught students from preschool through doctoral level. No stranger to Oz, Gary has worked with independent and public schools across Australia, as well as collaborated with the Victoria Academy of Teaching and Learning + the Vic, NSW, QLD, SA, and ACT Departments of Education.
Gary earned his PhD in Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Melbourne and worked closely with the father of educational computing, Dr. Seymour Papert for decades. Dr. Stager is a popular keynote speaker at many of the world’s leading conferences and his most recent project includes a collaboration with the remarkable educators of Reggio Emilia, Italy to create The Language of Computation – Constructing Modern Knowledge in Reggio Emilia.
He barracks for the mighty Richmond Tigers and has attended five AFL Grand Finals, including one at Waverley and a match at Moorabbin. Learn more about Gary Stager or inquire about collaborating with him at your school here.
Workshop Fee
$370 AUD for one participant
10% discount available for teams of 3 or more educators
Date/Time
27 February 2026 • 9 AM – 3 PM
Location
Spensley Street Primary School
193 Spensley St
Clifton Hill VIC 3068, Australia