Steering future of ag

The iSteer competition, which was conducted in conjunction with the recent UniSchools steer challenge, has allowed students to further explore varied aspects of the beef industry all while using iPads.

About 30 school students across six teams were involved in iSteer.

The competition was divided into four sections with students required to create two videos, one marketing Australian beef to Japan, the other exploring animal health.

There was also a technology component whereby they had to design an agricultural product, and a writing component where the students created an article of their experiences in the UniSchools steer challenge.

The competition was co-ordinated by April Browne and Chris Vella, science education officers with the Primary Industry Centre for Science Education; Browne and Vella are based at the University of Western Sydney's Hawkesbury Campus at Richmond.

Ms Browne said the competition attracted a good level of participation with the students responding very well, and creatively, to the variety of tasks.

"We wanted to give them an opportunity to explore the beef industry more broadly," she said.

Mr Vella said the quality of the students' work was very good.

He said the competition was designed to build on the student's involvement in the UniSchools steer challenge, as well as their agricultural studies at school.

And the incorporation of technology proved to be a hit.

"Using the iPads as an engagement tool worked really well. We were impressed with how well the kids were able to use the different apps," Mr Vella said.

Colo High School at North Richmond was one of five schools from across Sydney to participate in this first year of the competition - and they found success with the school's two teams notching up wins across various challenges, including animal health, technology and writing.

Colo High School Year 10 student Bec Shoesmith - who plans to specialise in large animal veterinary science - said the competition provided a good boost for agriculture knowledge attained in the classroom.

"It opened up a lot of awareness about what is involved in the beef industry and how we can promote it," she said.

Fellow Colo High School student Ben Sherratt said the competition had a broad reach and appeal.

"It gave a good insight into different aspects of the beef industry, like marketing, veterinary science and technology," he said.

Colo High School agriculture teacher Luciano Mesiti said it was good to see the students participating in a creative challenge such as this.

"It is an extension of the concept of UniSchools in terms of areas such as marketing and animal management, and it is also a means by which they can be creative," he said.

Mr Mesiti said they were highly astute students and their work on the project was very impressive.

Other schools involved in the iSteer challenge were Oakhill College at Castle Hill, Elizabeth Macarthur High School at Narellan, Bede Pold- ing College at South Windsor, and Knox Grammar School at Wahroonga.

There are hopes to continue the competition next year with potential focus areas to include sustainable agriculture.