ACCE/ACS Digital Technologies Teacher of the Year
The ACCE Digital Technologies Teacher of the Year award is a national award intended to recognise the importance of the work of Australian teachers who are innovatively employing the Digital Technologies Curriculum in their K-12 schools.
Each state member association has the opportunity to nominate a K-12 school-based educator for the award. The nominee will usually be the recipient of a similar state award. Nominations have to be submitted to ACCE by November 30 annually.
The ACCE Digital Technologies Teacher of the Year award is announced and presented at a national conference where practical.
Recognition
→ receives up to $2,000
→ receives a plaque
→ is recognized on the ACCE web site
→ may be invited to present at the next ACCE conference
Selection process
Eligibility
Please note: Administrators in schools, district and regional personnel and people attached to offices of school systems also contribute to learning, schools and the professional computer education community; however, this award focuses on recognising the efforts of K-12 classroom-based educators.
Submission process
Application should include:
- Application Form
- Nomination Statement (including reference to criteria)
- Curriculum Vitae
- Letters of Recommendation (minimum of two).
Criteria for selection
Impact
- Significant positive impact on the application of the Digital Technologies Curriculum; locally, regionally, state-wide, and/or nationally
- Contribution to the profession by;
- presenting at professional conferences, seminars and/or workshops or
- publishing articles in print or through electronic media
- nurturing and mentoring individuals, groups and /or associations in the use of the Digital Technologies Curriculum
Advocacy
- Advocating for the Digital Technologies Curriculum to the extent that their work is used as a model for others
- Planning, developing and implementing programs to advance the Digital Technologies Curriculum in Education
- Involving the community in an initiative or program to facilitate partnerships around Digital Technologies Curriculum
Innovation
- Innovating in the application of the Digital Technologies Curriculum

Lorraine Cusens from QSITE
2019 Digital Technologies Teacher of the Year
Award citation coming soon.

Tracy Sleeman from QSITE
2018 Digital Technologies Teacher of the Year
Tracy is the Year 5 and 6 Digital Technologies Teacher, Staff Coach for Digital Pedagogy and Regional Tech Ambassador at Golden Beach State School. Tracy has also recently taken on a part-time lecturing role in a Digital Communications subject at the Australian Catholic University. Tracy was nominated for this award by QSITE (Qld Society for Information Technology in Education).
Tracy is a dedicated, innovative and enthusiastic educator who has been instrumental in planning the implementation of the Digital Technologies curriculum at her school. She supports other teachers with their planning and co-teaches units at a number of year levels to help her colleagues build their skills. Tracy led the design and resourcing of the school’s Technology Hub and Makerspace. The activities in these flexible learning spaces have a focus on solving problems with various robots including Spheros, BB8s, Ozobots, Osmo coding, Bluebots, Probots and Little Bits.
Tracy collaborates with teachers outside her school through networks such as the Regional Tech Ambassadors and the district Coding and Innovation Hub established by Mountain Creek State High School. She participated in the ACCE 2014 Study Tour, culminating in attending and presenting at ISTE 2014 in Atlanta. Tracy also returned to ISTE 2016 in Denver, Colorado as a presenter.
Tracy has also encouraged student development and engagement through supporting their participation in programs such as Genius Hour, CodeClub, the BEBRAS Computational Thinking competition and the Tech Girls are Superheroes Challenge. Two of the school’s Tech Girls teams have won United Nations awards for their apps, one in 2017 and one in 2018, and Tracy has now taken on the role of Regional Ambassador for the Tech Girls movement.