Stakeholder advice and recommendations

  Advice and recommendations from national consultation (excludes higher education):

• education.au and edna are well placed to extend their national leadership and brokerage role in areas including:
   
  
• national and international innovations and trends in ICT in learning - digital pedagogies, content, standards and architectures
   
  
• ICT in education policies, exemplars, cost-benefits and risks - communicated in an accessible and timely way to enable informed decision-making at the local level
   
  
• Support national knowledge sharing - convene forums on key challenges and point to lessons learned in other jurisdictions or internationally
   
  
• Advocacy for reforms in access and pricing of broadband provision for education
   
  
• Greater focus on communication strategies with education practitioners (eg professional learning support or provision of tools) with a parallel strategy to stakeholders on benefits and risks of national services (eg employee productivity gains, lessons learned from innovations that may be applicable to jurisdictions)
   
  
• Provide ICT and educators market research data disaggregated by sector
   
  
• Bring edna and other national services closer to the point of delivery - through links on local portals, embedded web services (eg targeted RSS feeds), modules or code that can be integrated into local systems
   
  
• Enhance  the presentation layer of edna to improve usability and appeal (a priority in 2008-09 edna work plan)
   
  
• Review the collection focus and points of difference of edna repository services and more recent collection initiatives such as The Le@rning Federation (schools), Learning Object Repository Network (VET), Australian Learning and Teaching Exchange (higher education) and public search tools and repositories
   
  
• Reform the governance structure of edna to achieve greater engagement of stakeholders in determining service priorities (underway in 2008-09 edna work plan)

Tags: consultation edna2010
Posted at 12:32PM Sep 12, 2008 by Mark Tranthim-Fryer  |  Comments[0]

Support for current edna and education.au initiatives

Common feedback on  edna and education.au intiatives include the following:

• Widespread support for the www.me.edu.au professional networking initiative as both a professional resource and potential as a teaching tool
   
  
• High levels of support for edna community spaces (especially Groups) where they supplement local provision of support for educators, and particularly where they facilitate collaboration and networks across borders, sectors and jurisdictions. An exception to this view was expressed by one schooling jurisdiction that Groups should be provided on a fee-for-service basis
   
  
• Support for upcoming web conferencing facility (Wimba Classroom) albeit with strategies to manage demand
   
  
• High value placed upon safe and spam-free places for educators to experiment and evaluate emerging technologies for learning  - most jurisdictions are not well-placed to provide these types of sandpit environments themselves

• Widespread support for the development of tools and services that can be provided locally and/or integrated into jurisdictional and institutional infrastructure
   
  
• High levels of support for facilitation of collaboration across sectors and jurisdictions where common issues relating to using technologies to enhance teaching and learning require national and strategic conversations.
   
  
• Strong support was expressed for leadership in the use of emerging technologies to support educational delivery and professional learning and for provision of evidence based research into the value and use of technology in learning.
   
  
• Provision of seminars and leading speakers was strongly supported.

Tags: edna2010 education.au consultation
Posted at 01:01PM Sep 11, 2008 by Mark Tranthim-Fryer  |  Comments[0]

Common Australian ICT issues and challenges

The following are some of the key issues and challenges faced by education jurisdictions from consultation forums over the last two months. Note that the needs of higher education will be canvassed in October and November. Subsequent posts will include feedback on edna and education.au intiatives and further advice and recommendations on future actions for edna and education.au.

• Learning needs and appropriate pedagogies must be the driver of change rather than tools and technologies in themselves
   
• Strategies to mainstream digital pedagogies, services and content for educators are required to reach beyond the small proportion of early adopters - more effective professional learning is crucial
   
• Limited system and institution readiness exists for significant reforms in digital content and pedagogies and low visibility of effective policy and practices elsewhere
   
• Inadequate, patchy and costly broadband access is a major impediment to reforms in digital education
   
• Significant variation exists in content filtering and blocking policies between states, particularly in the school sector and a consequent need for more sophisticated filtering strategies
   
• Carbon reduction considerations is looming as a signifant issue - both potential ICT benefits (eg reduced travel) but also environmental costs such as the impact of decommissioning hardware

Tags: edna2010 consultation policy
Posted at 05:46PM Sep 10, 2008 by Mark Tranthim-Fryer  |  Comments[0]

Forum 11: South Australia, August 8

Wide ranging dialogue with representatives e-learning administrators and practitioners from DECS (schooling), DFEEST / TAFE SA, eworks and private RTO

Issues and challenges

• One-size-fits-all content filtering in schools significantly limits potential of the internet for learning
• Critical nature of quality professional development to realise learning and productivity benefits, recognising that ICT capability is a shared responsibility of both the employer and the educator taking charge of their own career development
• Limitations of current learning spaces - classrooms off a corridor may not represent 21C learning
• Digital Education Revolution - immediate need for practical information in computer roll-out, eg cost-benefits of laptops, desktops, thin clients
• More sophisticated debate required on use of mobile devices with focus on education possibilities not just the risks 

Advice and recommendations

• Provide data and lessons learned on collaborative spaces for educators - eg cost-benefits, facilitation strategies, productivity improvements
• Explore wider access to Scootle - the PDF learning plan is particularly useful
• Explore 'federated identity' provision using open standards such as OpenID
• Provide visibility of colleagues 'following me' in me.edu.au
• Investigate pre-service needs of VET practitioners when conducting the upcoming pre-service teacher review
• Explore models of career recognition and reward for contributions to professional networks
• Advocate the business case for investment in professional development (leaders, practitioners, support staff) fully integrated with teaching and learning

Tags: sa consultation edna2010
Posted at 03:10PM Aug 18, 2008 by Mark Tranthim-Fryer  |  Comments[2]

Forum 10: Queensland (schools), August 7

Discussions held with eLearning Branch of Education Queensland representatives including initiatives The Learning Place and Smart Classrooms.

Issues and challenges

• 3 required elements for  quality e-learning - digital pedagogies, digital learning materials and effective learning spaces
• Paradox of ICT capability - as educators know more about ICT their perception of their own capability may diminish, and drives demand for professional learning
• Market segments in ICT and educators market research too broad to be of value
• edna currently provides no value to Queensland government schools - content and collaboration spaces are provided through the Queensland department

Advice and recommendations

• Develop a  business model based upon user-pays for online services and communities
• Engage Qld up front in innovations with option to participate
• Strengthen leadership and brokerage role in
  
• national and international trends in ICT and learning
• development of a national business model for federated content across school jurisdictions
• duty of care solutions for Web 2.0
• digital pedagogies - highlighting where there is effective practice
• development of ICT architectures, standards and identity frameworks and strategies
• Follow up visit with DEEWR for comprehensive briefing on Queensland initiatives and to identify mutually beneficial future points of connection

Tags: edna2010 qld consultation
Posted at 11:34AM Aug 15, 2008 by Mark Tranthim-Fryer  | 

Forum 9: Northern Territory, August 6

Discussion with ICT in schooling representatives from the Northern Territory Department of Education and Training.

Issues and challenges

• Content filtering problematic to balance access to useful resources vs protection against copyright, security, internet safety, etc
• Bandwidth a continuing problem, especially for remote schools. Virtual learning environments problematic from both a firewall and bandwidth cost perspective
  
• Ability to attract teachers, professional development seen as important to maintain teacher quality
• Need for reform in pre-service teacher education, particularly around integration of ICTs into the curriculum
  

Advice and recommendations

• Host national strategic conversation around content filtering with accompanying report on how other systems are managing this issue
• Highlight other state and territory ICT initiatives for benefits, costs and risks - eg takeup of enterprise gmail by some systems
  
• Support for services that link authenticated resources directly into learning management systems (eg Scootle and edna web services)
  
• Continue provision of edna safe ICT spaces for teachers but consider the possibility of safe student spaces
• Highlight international research, benchmarks and significant trends in regard to ICT provision in schools. New Zealand initiatives and trends of particular interest
  
• Consider circulation of education.au 3C newsletter to schools distributed by the Department
  

Tags: edna2010 nt consultation
Posted at 09:38AM Aug 13, 2008 by Mark Tranthim-Fryer  | 

Forum 8: Western Australia, July 31

Tags: consultation edna2010 wa
Posted at 02:25PM Aug 12, 2008 by Mark Tranthim-Fryer  | 

Forum 7: New South Wales, July 30

16 participants representing a range of schools and VET programs and functions from DET NSW - Centre for Learning Innovation, Connected Classrooms, Leadership Directorate, TAFE Director, VET virtual learning environments.

Issues and challenges

• Commonwealth and state funding visibility - DEEWR contract provides $1.6 for edna direct costs with a further state and territory contribution in the order of 10% to meet indirect edna expenses
• Fundamental design challenge for VLE in meeting both institution or the learner (personalization) needs, how to solve multiple identities across institutions
• Options for smart filtering that discriminate between different  groups of users
• Positive working relationship with education.au over the years eg jointly developed events schema
  

Tags: nsw consultation edna2010
Posted at 03:43PM Aug 10, 2008 by Mark Tranthim-Fryer  | 

Forum 6: Catholic Education, July 30

Discussions with senior CEC NSW officers:

Issues and challenges

• Paradigm shifts and consequent need for forward planning, policy reform and technical strategies
• How do you teach in an online world? Research is largely focused on the technology itself rather than learning with few pedagogical models.
  What is the best mix of existing and new learning strategies and how do we support teachers challenged by these reforms?
• Limited information about Australian Government Quality Teacher Program policy shift to 50% ICT target
• Variation in the way government and catholic sectors collaborate in different states
• National curriculum will be a driver of increased demand for resource
  

Advice and recommendations

•  Maintain debate on what constitutes effective schools of the future
• Investigate e-portfolios and common standards for the profession me.edu.au could be a supportive platform
• Highlight best practice examples of ICT in learning, and model the technology when providing support for teachers.
  A local example was the use of Google Earth to teach young children about road safety and black spots in their neighbourhood.  'Cameo' videos could be effective
• Investigate compatibility issues with local networks and edna email discussion lists
• Explore a trial of Wimba Classroom web conferencing and associated business case with CEC NSW
• Canvas CEC views in other states and territories consult more widely with Catholic dioceses
  

Tags: edna2010 consultation catholic
Posted at 09:28AM Aug 08, 2008 by Mark Tranthim-Fryer  | 

Forum 5: Australian Government, July 24

Staff from DEEWR represented several branches:

• Student Access and Equity
  
• VET Technology Projects, Technology and Communications
  
• Higher Education Quality Branch
  
• Enterprise and Careers Branch
  
• Transition to Training and Work Branch
• Student Access and Equity Branch
• IT Development Branch
  

Issues and challenges for edna

• Optimal targeting of audiences for edna services - sector, location, ICT access and skills
• Points of difference of repositories from other services - eg Google, Scootle, with potential for edna to focus on free and open licensed content
• Previous and pending DEEWR restructures
  

Advice and recommendations following edna presentation

• Continue role in innovation and assessment of new technologies for learning - allow a safe place for educators to experiment
• Present accessible research and practical advice on what does and doesn't work, inform decisions at the local level
• Improve communication strategies, search engine rankings and ways of organising interfaces for a large range of services
• Liaise with DEEWR Higher Education section in the edna higher education review (demand and value assessment) later in 2008
• Circulate completed edna 2008-09 work plan to participants
• edna contract management is the responsibility of the Schools, Teaching, Students and Digital Education Revolution Group
  

Tags: deewr edna2010 consultation
Posted at 12:06PM Aug 06, 2008 by Mark Tranthim-Fryer  |  Comments[4]