Pāpāmoa College International Students Learn Game Design at Toi Ohomai

Six international students from Thailand, on a two‑week study exchange at Pāpāmoa College, took part in a practical coding and game design session at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology recently.

The group attended a two‑hour workshop at the Tauranga campus led by Academic Staff Member Andrew Chapman, where they learnt introductory coding and game‑building skills using Roblox.

At the session held on Thursday, 12 March, one student created a fully coded McDonald’s restaurant, complete with a drivable car and a character that could walk inside to order food.

Pāpāmoa College Director of International Education, Kerri Turanga, says the high school tailors its international programmes around student interests.

“At present, we have 80 international students at Pāpāmoa College. Many prospective students and their families enquire about technology‑focussed learning opportunities, such as programming, coding and game design. We wanted to offer a practical training session, so I contacted the international team at Toi Ohomai, who connected us with the information technology academic team,” she says.

“This practical learning opportunity at Toi Ohomai is a unique local offering that helps Pāpāmoa College stand out. This group is here in New Zealand for two weeks, and we’ve built a programme that includes technology experiences, tourism activities, cultural learning and regular high school classes.”

Toi Ohomai International Liaison Officer, Chau Tran, says partnerships with local high schools help international students understand what tertiary study and vocational training in New Zealand could look like.

“It gives students a real sense of day‑to‑day vocational learning and what studying internationally, and at Toi Ohomai, would involve. If they enjoy their high school exchange, they may choose to return to the Bay of Plenty for their tertiary studies. We often hear that students value our applied learning approach and smaller class sizes,” Chau says.