Activate 2021

Key Info for Educators

Welcome to Activate 2021.

On this page, you’ll find a summary of all key info relating to the program. It will be updated with all the latest info on key events and activities as it’s released, and we’ll also update all Activate teachers via email. But, if you ever get stuck, or can’t find a key date or document, this is a great place to start looking. You might want to add it to your bookmarks.

Of course, in the immortal words of U2, if you still haven’t found what you’re looking for, just drop us a line at hello@futureanything.com. We’re always happy to hear from you, and remember, there’s no such thing as a stupid question. if you’re thinking it, someone else probably is too!

Key Upcoming Dates

(All dates are subject to change. Full event info and registration details will be provided closer to each event).

  • NOW:  2021 Future Anything Educator Awards submissions NOW OPEN! Click here for info. 
  • NOW: Activate 2022 Registrations NOW OPEN. Click here for info. 
  • Monday 4 October: National Semi Finalists announced
  • Friday 22 October: 2021 Future Anything Educator Awards submissions close (11pm AEST)
  • Monday 25 & Thursday 28 October: National Semi Finals (online)
  • Tuesday 23 November: National Grand Final 2021

Past events:

  • Wednesday 3 March: Professional Learning Day 1 – ACTIVATE ESSENTIALS
    Event now passed – find the recordings in Thinkific. 
  • Monday 15 March: Professional Learning Day 2 – ACTIVATE EXTRA
    Event now passed – find the recordings in Thinkific.  
  • Tuesday 4 May: Future Fest 1
    Event now passed – check out the recording below
  • Friday 17 September – National Finals Applications closed (11pm AEST)

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Activate Online Curriculum

The curricula for the 2021 are now published . All curricula include detailed lesson plans, resources, bespoke case studies, assessment tools and more and are accessed via our online platform, Thinkific.

All Activate educators receive their own personalised log in to the platform, enabling them to track their own progress through the curriculum. If you haven’t received your log in details (check your junk/spam folder for an email from Thinkific), or have any issues accessing content, email us at hello@futureanything.com

We suggest educators participate in one of the two Professional Development Days before diving too deeply into the curricula, as these will help contextualise the content for your own school and students. If you weren’t able to join the PD days live, you can access the recordings via your Thinkific account.

You can view the Learning Overviews and curriculum alignments for the five Activate 2021 subject streams here:

To receive access to the full online curriculum, your Activate invoice must be paid and teacher contact details must be provided via the Activate Teacher Contact Details form here.

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Pre- and Post-Activate Teacher Surveys

We ask all educators (new and returning) delivering Activate to complete a short survey prior to commencing and after completing delivery of Activate 2021. the program.

We very much value input from educators. Your responses will help inform the development of the program in future to ensure it is as relevant and targeted as possible, and enable us to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of Activate 2021.

Please complete the Pre-Activate Teacher survey here BEFORE you start teaching the program. This survey is all multiple choice and will take less than 5 minutes to complete.

Please complete the Post-Activate Teacher survey here as soon as possible after finishing teaching the program. This survey is mainly multiple choice and will take around 10 minutes to complete.

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAYS

Two Activate Professional Development Days will be held in 2021. All Activate Educators should join at least one of these days (though everyone is welcome to attend both).

Wednesday 3 March: Professional Learning Day 1 – ACTIVATE ESSENTIALS

  • This event has now passed, thanks to everyone who joined!
  • Recordings of the event can be found in Thinkific. Head to your personal dashboard and select the course called “Activate Essentials Professional Development” to see the videos, provide your feedback via the post-PD survey and access your CPD certificate.

Monday 15 March: Professional Learning Day 2 – ACTIVATE EXTRA

  • This event has now passed, thanks to everyone who joined! If you attended, please be sure to complete the post-event survey in Thinkific ASAP.
  • Recordings of the event can be found in Thinkific. Head to your personal dashboard and select the course called “Activate Extra Professional Development” to see the videos, provide your feedback via the post-PD survey and access your CPD certificate.

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Activate Update Emails

We send regular updates and key program info to all Activate teachers by email in our Activate Update emails. We know inboxes get busy and it’s easy to miss important info, so check out all our Activate Updates below:

If you’re not receiving these emails, check your junk folder (they’re sent from ‘hello@futureanything.com’) or shoot us an email to hello@futureanything.com.

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LIVE LEARNING CPD

New for 2021 is our Live Learning series. Designed for all educators with an interest in Activate, Project-Based Learning and the pedagogy of entrepreneurship education more broadly, this monthly series of live, interactive webinars provides a deep dive into relevant topics and brings together some very special guests. All sessions take place live online from 4pm – 4.45pm Brisbane time. Topics, speakers and registration info will be released  closer to the time will be announced and sessions also will be recorded for Activate educators to watch on demand.

  • Tuesday 16 February –  Live Learning: The Future of Work with Jan Owen AM 
  • Wednesday 17 March –  Live Learning: Project Based Learning with Laura McBain & Kwaku Aning
  • Thursday 29 April –  Live Learning: Next Generation STEM – Thinking beyond the tech with Holly Kershaw & Damien Aldridge
  • Tuesday 10 August – Live Learning: Entrepreneurial Pedagogy
  • Tuesday 7 September – Live Learning: Learning Design in a Global Pandemic – with Dr Michael Boots & Summer Howarth
  • Tuesday 12 October –  Live Learning: Designing Schools for Teacher and Student Wellbeing – click here to register
  • Wednesday 10 November –  Live Learning: To be announced

Full details of Live Learning sessions will be release over the course of the year, so check back here for the latest info!

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Future Fests

Future Fest is our epic, interactive day of livestreamed listening, learning and doing. It connects your students access to powerful, perspective-shifting voices they may not normally have the chance to hear and includes a mix of panel discussions and interactive ideation activities. 

Future Fest 1 – Tuesday 4 May

Future Fest 1 was delivered in collaboration with SouthStart, Australia’s human-first innovation and impact festival, and formed part of the Bright Ideas Summit. 

Check out the recordings here.

Future Fest On Demand

Given the ever-threatening risk of lockdowns, event capacity limits and cancellations, and potential border closures (what fun!) we’ve pivoted Future Fest to virtual delivery for 2021. Rather than schools taking students offline for a whole day, in response to feedback from teachers, we’ve made our second Future Fest of the year an on-demand event.

It’s designed so that you can run it over a single day or in bitesize chunks whenever, and however, suits you and your students.

There are two elements to Future Fest all available as simple video modules: a selection of pre- and post-event interactive activities led by by you, and a host of video speaker segments from epic Aussie entrepreneurs and changemakers.

You can mix and match the content that your students and build an event, or lesson, that works for you and your students.

Future Fest On Demand is now live at www.futureanything.com/future-fest-on-demand/

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School Showcases

A School Showcase is every school’s own ‘shark tank style’ pitching event run at the conclusion of their Activate program.

These events are fantastic for engaging your local community in your incredible classroom work, and it also breaks down the transactional nature of assessment – allowing students to celebrate their final product and share their learning with a broader audience.

We encourage every school to run a Showcase. They can be as grand or as modest as you like. Most showcases will include a live pitch session and/or an exhibition/marketplace to celebrate student’s work. Most schools run their Showcase in either in the last week of the Term they’ve delivered the program in, or the first week of the following Term while it’s fresh in students’ minds.

We’ve put together a FAQ with everything (we think) you might want to know about setting up your Showcase. If there’s anything we’ve missed, please shoot us an email to hello@futureanything.com – if you’re wondering it, someone else probably is too!

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2021 FINALS

Activate culminates in a national competition to find the best student-led enterprises and for them to win the funding and support to launch their ideas into the real world.

Finals Applications – NOW CLOSED!

Key 2021 Future Anything Finals Dates (all subject to change):

  • Friday 17 September (11pm AEST): Finals applications closed
  • Monday 4 October: National Semi Finalists announced
  • Monday 25 & Thursday 28 October: National Semi Finals take place (online)
  • Tuesday 23 November: National Grand Final

2021 Finals Events

There will be two sets of events for the 2021 Finals:

  • National Semi Finals – Monday 25 October  and Thursday 28 October. All Semi Finals will be online (via Zoom) due to ongoing uncertainty around snap lockdowns.  Teams through to Semi Finals (and their teachers) will be informed and provided with full event details during w/c 4 October.  
  • National Grand Final – Tuesday 23 November, QUT Gardens Theatre, Brisbane, QLD 4000.This will feature 6-8 teams pitching live and a further 12-18 teams showcasing their ideas in a marketplace expo.

Check out the Finals FAQ (PDF) for initial info on the Finals events – detailed info on the events will be announced soon!

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