A video has now been released of the recent TeenTech Awards 2018 final, which gives a great overview of the day and how the TeenTech initiative supports and inspires young people. TeenTech is an award-winning, industry-led initiative, co-founded by Maggie Philbin OBE (BBC Tomorrow’s World) and Chris Dodson OBE. TeenTech runs initiatives across the UK for young people aged 8-18, focusing on science, technology, research and innovation.
Representatives of the CILIP Information Literacy Group (ILG) attended the TeenTech Awards ceremony on 25th June 2018 at the Royal Society in London. ILG and LILAC committee members are involved in judging the Research and Information Literacy Award, which is awarded to pupils in the 13-16 age range for the way they approach their research, their use of resources and expert opinion to inform their idea. ILG has developed a set of Research Smarter resource sheets to support students undertaking research, which cover the whole range of information literacy activities, from how to use search engines to protecting your own intellectual property. Alternative versions of the sheets, not tied to the competition, are also available to download for free.
233 schools participated in the 2017/18 TeenTech Awards programme, with 729 girls and 617 boys submitting work. This year’s Research and Information Literacy award was won by The Ladies College for their project creating a device to identify sugars in foods. ILG Chair Jane Secker, Deputy Chair Lisa Jeskins, School Libraries Rep Rebecca Jones and Advocacy and Outreach Officer Stéphane Goldstein were part of the judging team on the day.
The impact of the awards is reflected in some of the fantastic feedback that has recently been received:
“TeenTech inspires young people to really believe in the themselves and give them a love and excitement for all things science. These young people are the future – they will, and are undoing all the harm that our generation has done to our planet and with their capacity to think out of the box and bring innovative and life saving ideas to the fore we can look forward to what the future will bring.” Teacher, Guernsey
“We will definitely be applying next year, it really was such an honour to be there and it did so much to boost the confidence of those two children, as well as those who gained certificates too of course. It is such a great idea and, although I know there are various competitions around, this one really made the children feel valued, involved and part of something potentially massive, so thank you again from me and from the children.” Teacher, Minehead
“The TeenTech awards provided the opportunity, inspiration and drive to our pupils to develop their data analysis skills to an even higher level.” Teacher, Surrey
“It enables students to relate principles learnt in school to real life challenges and provides an opportunity for them to think outside the box.” Teacher, Sheffield
“TeenTech is the most relevant, innovative competition in the UK for students. It fits perfectly within the Scottish curriculum, meeting numerous outcomes in an exciting pupil lead project.” Teacher, Scotland
“I love the way TeenTech provides students with the opportunity to develop the germ of an idea into something real and much bigger than they first imagined. Collaborating with experts from outside the walls of their school helps to open their eyes to the world beyond and a vision for the future.” Teacher, Market Harborough