Australia

Kathryn MoyleAssociate Professor

University of CanberraSecretariat Director

Australian ICT in Education Committee

Digital Education Revolution

Australian Government priorities• National Secondary School Computing

Fund• Fibre connections to schools• Professional development for teachers• Online curriculum tools and resources• Parental involvement• Back-end assistance

Activities in 2008Audits: computers in schools and

bandwidth• A preliminary survey of computers less

than four years old available for students in Years 9-12 in secondary schools in Australia

• Approximately 990,000 students in years 9-12

• Already over 280,000 computers in schools

Bandwidth connections• Most schools reported using fibre

(47.0 per cent). • 42.3 per cent use DSL • 2.4 per cent use satellite • 1.3 per cent reported no broadband

access. • The remaining 7.0 per cent of

schools use other non-fibre technologies or did not report a technology type

• Other non-fibre technology includes:– Ethernet (1.4 per cent), – Frame relay (0.06 per cent), – ISDN (0.3 per cent, – Microwave (0.06 per cent), – wireless (1.1 per cent) and satellite

(0.8 per cent) technology.

Political pressure

• ‘Grimes’ Report: Legitimate & Additional Financial Implications of the National Secondary School Computer Fund

• National Secondary School Computer Fund – On-costs to meet the costs of installation and

maintenance of the additional computers purchased through the Fund

– 710,000 additional computers

Activities in 2008• Round One: 896 schools

received funding for 116,820 new computers

• Round Two: 1,394 secondary schools received funding for 141,319 new computers

• Better Practice Guide• Digital Education Revolution

Implementation Roadmap• Industry leaders Forum

Workplans in 2009• Using data – Evaluation and monitoring the Digital

Education Revolution• Work through three national Advisory Committees of

AICTEC:– Teaching in a Digital Age Advisory Group– NationalInteroperability & Digital Architecture Advisory

Group– Intellectual Property and Privacy in Technology Advisory

Group • All teacher employers in Australia notified that funds of

up to $11.25 million of the total ($22.5 million) of the Australian Government Quality Teacher Program in 2009 are to be directed to ICT-related school-based professional development for teachers

Building the Education Revolution• Part of the Australian Government $42 billion stimulus

package• $14.7 billion available to schools across Australia to build or

upgrade existing facilities, including:– Primary Schools for the 21st Century - $12.4 billion long term

investment to build or upgrade large scale infrastructure (eg libraries and multi-purpose facilities in all primary schools, special schools and K-12 schools).

– National School Pride Program - $1.3 billion investment to refurbish and renew existing infrastructure and undertake minor building works in every Australian school.

– Science and Language Centres for 21st Century Schools - $1 billion long term investment to build around 500 new science and language laboratories in secondary schools

URLs

• Australian ICT in Education Committee: – http://www.aictec.gov.au

• Digital Education Revolution:– http://www.digitaleducationrevolution.gov.au

• Building the Education Revolution:– http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/

BuildingTheEducationRevolution/Pages/default.aspx

http://2009directorsluncheon.wikispaces.com