Australia
Kathryn Moyle
Associate Professor
University of Canberra
Secretariat 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 2008
Audits: 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/BuildingTheEduc
ationRevolution/Pages/default.aspx
http://2009directorsluncheon.wikispaces.com