Immanuel Lutheran College is a K-12 co-educational school located in Buderim, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1979, Immanuel is the longest established independent school on the Sunshine Coast. Lee Bond, (ILC eLearning Curriculum Coordinator/QSITE Board), spoke to David Bliss, (College Principal), who outlined a long history of accomplishments and exciting developments at ILC.

Immanuel Lutheran College has a history of successful technological innovation which has resulted in a legacy of infrastructure and passionate, skilled staff. We have several staff who are technological innovators, each highly experienced in the implementation of major projects. This has been acknowledged by the receipt of two national awards by ILC staff (Microsoft Innovative Teacher Award, 2005 and the Texas Instruments Professional Development Scholarship, 2004). Several staff have presented papers at state, national and international conferences. These include - ConSTAQ, 2003, 2004, 2005; Australian Computers in Education Conferences, 2006, 2008; Australian Association of Researchers in Education International Conference, 2008; Microsoft Middle East Conference (Dubai) 2006.  

Amidst the celebrations of proudly serving the Sunshine Coast for 30 years, the College has again set a focus on capital renewal of facilities to complement the design and delivery of advanced, technology-rich curriculum.  Immanuel’s commitment to incorporate superior technologies into learning programs for the advancement of student outcomes is widely regarded.  Recently, in recognition of its extensive and innovative programs, particularly in the areas of Mathematics and Science, the College was delighted to be informed that it is one of only three schools in Australia, and the only one in Queensland, to receive a Hewlett-Packard Innovations in Education Program Grant, open to schools across the world, valued at $178 000.

The award includes a class set of HP EliteBook 2730p Tablet Notebooks, supporting hardware and HP training. The grant will be used to strategically roll-out Tablet computers in targeted areas of all Science disciplines, Mathematics, Information Technology and Engineering Technology.  The project is called Tablets – The Smart Medicine for Teaching and Learning, with the grant covering expenditure on HP technology, professional and leadership development.  The Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering subjects mandate an emphasis on extended experimental work, project work and research tasks.  Students are expected to use a variety of technologies to complete these tasks and ILC has been an early adopter of new technologies to facilitate this (for example - electronic data loggers, Logger Pro-motion analysis software and virtual experimentation).  It is difficult to ascertain whether the students or their teachers are more excited.  “This is a wonderful affirmation of the aptitudes of our students and the professional determination of their teachers”. 

Immanuel College serves students of all abilities.  Within this philosophy, it has a proud history of producing students who undertake tertiary study in medicine and engineering, as evidenced by the fact that 27 graduates from the past two years have entered into degrees centred on applied science and engineering, including five into medicine.  Several have been awarded tertiary scholarships and as graduates earned university medals and accelerated workplace entry into careers such as a coronial work, podiatry and aeronautical engineering.  Destination surveys indicate that many of these Old Scholars attribute a large part of their academic and vocational success to their Immanuel education.