The Creative Futures Annual Design Workshop is a teacher education program delivered in partnership between Melbourne Museum and DATTA Vic and funded by Creative Futures.   

Each year, teachers come together for a unique professional learning experience on using museum collections and design thinking practices to enrich schools-based design education. They also contribute to the development of new Design & Technologies classroom resources based on museum collections.

In February 2026, Melbourne Museum & DATTA Vic took the Creative Futures Annual Design Workshop to Bendigo.  We were hosted by the wonderful Bendigo Tech School, and joined by educators from a range of local schools. Our design sprint used a place-based approach, with Bendigo’s landscape, industries and communities shaping the design challenges explored on the day. Teachers worked collaboratively to develop future-focused Design & Technologies teaching and learning programs grounded in local context, which we developed into a resource. 

So welcome to Local News 2040, which asks?

How might your community change for the better by 2040?

Students will work through the folio to design and prototype a future product, service, system or place that responds to a local challenge or opportunity, and then share their solutions as a short Local News 2040 story, reporting on the positive impact their idea has made to the community.

ACCESS HERE

For more information on Melbourne Museum education services, click HERE. 

Suitable for: Capabilities, Creating Design Solutions, Design Thinking, Ethics & Sustainability, Food & Fibre Production, Materials & Technologies Specialisations, STEM & STEAM Education, Technologies in Society, Textiles, VCE PD&T, Wearable Technologies, Years 7-10, Critical & Creative Thinking, Speculative Design, Media design, Unit of Work

This resource package, featuring a short film and presentation, was produced by DATTA Vic and Monash University and was supported by the Victorian Government’s Connecting Learning to Work fund.

It has three purposes:

• To highlight further study and career pathways for VCE Systems Engineering students
• To promote VCE Engineering to a wider cohort of students and their families at your school’s VCE Information Events
• To be a useful teaching tool for Design & Technologies students, showcasing the vital role engineers play in our society

VIDEO SLIDES

Suitable for: VCE Systems Engineering, Ethics & Sustainability, User-centred design, Primary, Years P-6Years 7-10, Emerging Technologies, STEM & STEAM Education, Technacy, Engineering Principles & Systems, Technologies in Society, Role Models,, Careers, University

This resource package, featuring a short film, presentation and poster, was produced by DATTA Vic and RMIT, and was supported by the Victorian Government's Connecting Learning to Work fund.

It has three purposes:

• To highlight further study and career pathways for Product Design & Technology students
• To promote VCE Product Design & Technology to a wider cohort of students and their families at your school's VCE Information Events
• To be a useful teaching tool for Design & Technologies students, showcasing the vital role designers play in our society

VIDEO SLIDES POSTER

Suitable for: Careers, Creating Design Solutions, Design Thinking, Ethics & Sustainability, Further Study, Digital Technologies, STEM & STEAM Education, Technologies in Society, Years 7-10, VCE PD&T, VCE Systems, Role Models, Critical & Creative Thinking, Future Skills, Speculative Design, User-centred Design, Engineering Principles & Systems, Technacy, Wearable Technologies, Designer case study, University

The Creative Futures Annual Design Workshop is a teacher education program delivered in partnership between Melbourne Museum and DATTA Vic and funded by Creative Futures.   

Each year, teachers come together for a unique professional learning experience on using museum collections and design thinking practices to enrich schools-based design education.

They also contribute to the development of new Design & Technologies classroom resources based on museum collections.

In 2025, DATTA Vic and Melbourne Museum collaborated with our participating teachers to create a Second Life resource which engages students in the circular economy and speculative thinking. 

In a future where resources are shared and reused, how can you design a future product that helps someone live better?

This was based on the groups experience of exploring how Melbourne Museums utilises the design process in creating their programs, as well as a visit to LEGO Star Wars: The Exhibition.

The resource is in the form of a student folio and includes a rubric, timeline and activities relating to all steps of the design process.

ACCESS HERE

Suitable for: Capabilities, Creating Design Solutions, Design Thinking, Ethics & Sustainability, Food & Fibre Production, Materials & Technologies Specialisations, STEM & STEAM Education, Technologies in Society, Textiles, VCE PD&T, Wearable Technologies, Years 7-10, Critical & Creative Thinking, Speculative Design, Unit of Work

For more information on Melbourne Museum education services, click HERE.

This is a recording from the DATTA Vic online teach meet from 31 July 2025.

Forest Learning provides educators with free teaching resources relevant to the Australian Curriculum and with a focus on Australian forests and sustainable timber products.

Forest Learning has created a wide range of resources specifically for teachers and students of Design & Technologies. These include several that DATTA Vic has contributed to, including the Sustainable Cardboard Seating Project and Sustainable Schools - Going Green in your Canteen with Rayon.

Join the team from Forest Learning in this online session and learn about the wealth of free support materials that are available to help you with your classroom teaching - from the properties of wood to the virtual reality toolkit!

WATCH HERE

Suitable for: Creating Design Solutions, Materials & Technologies Specialisation, Primary, Wood/Metal/Plastics, Years 5-6, Years 7-10, Design Thinking, Food & Fibre Production, Technologies in Society, Prototyping, VR, Careers, Unit of Work

DATTA Vic and RMIT produced this digital poster as part of our Careers in Design toolkit. It's a great way to demonstrate the wide range of career pathways open to students who undertake VCE Product Design & Technologies.

DOWNLOAD

Suitable for: Careers, Design Thinking, Ethics & Sustainability, Further Study, STEM & STEAM Education, Technologies in Society, Years 7-10, VCE PD&T, Product Design & Technologies, University

A great resource for teaching VCE PD&T - includes resources on ethical & sustainable design, First Nations design, careers, positive role models, student work, upskilling webinars and much more.

ACCESS HERE

Suitable for: VCE PD&T, OH&S, Technacy, Critical & Creative Thinking, Wood/metal/plastics, Textiles, Design Thinking, Emerging Technologies, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Histories & Culture, Role Models, Speculative Design, Double Diamond Design Approach

This toolkit has been created for teachers of VCE Systems Engineering, and includes resources on classroom activities, sustainability, first nations engineering, teacher upskilling and much more.

ACCESS HERE

Suitable for: VCE Systems Engineering, Assessment, Pedagogy, Technacy, Critical & Creative Thinking, Robotics, Coding, Emerging Technologies, Further Study, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Histories & Culture, Role Models, Speculative Design, Design Approach, Ethics & Sustainability

DATTA Vic has created this free toolkit for educators teaching the Design & Technologies - Engineering Principles & Systems context.  It includes classroom resources, engineering challenges, diversity in engineering, careers, sustainability and much more.

ACCESS HERE

Suitable for: Technacy, Critical & Creative Thinking, Emerging Technologies, Ethics & Sustainability, User-centred design, Primary, Years 7-10, Creating Designed Solutions, Future Skills, Emerging Technologies, STEM & STEAM Education, Technacy, Engineering Principles & Systems, Technologies in Society, VCE Systems Engineering, Role Models, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Histories & Cultures