Overview

One of the key goals of the Digital Education Revolution (DER) is to ensure that learning through the use of innovative learning technologies is given a strong foundation in all schools.

The Online Curriculum Resources and Digital Architecture Initiative (the Initiative) of the DER aims to facilitate sustainable change in the use of learning technologies by supporting schools’ access to and engagement in quality teaching and learning environments through the effective integration of digital teaching and learning resources and infrastructure.

The Australian Government committed $28.6 million in the 2008 Budget, to support the development of high-quality digital tools, resources and infrastructure. The Initiative aims to enable jurisdictions and the broader education community to implement national reform in the schools sector, including the online delivery of the Australian Curriculum, projects and pilots to support a nationally consistent approach to eLearning and support for the national service provider - Education Services Australia (ESA). The Government is also working with the publishing, copyright, digital content and creative industries in implementing the Initiative.

Building on existing work of government and non-government education authorities, the Initiative is supporting the following key areas of activity:

• development of high-quality digital resources that can support the online delivery of the Australian curriculum.
• interoperable ICT systems and digital architectures that enable schools users to discover, access and share collaborative education materials and information across ICT systems.
• development of policies, protocols, infrastructure and standards required to enable schools to safely and seamlessly communicate, collaborate and access and use digital resources across school, system and jurisdictional boundaries. 
  

Progress to Date:

Activities under the Initiative to date have focussed on building a robust evidence base of existing, emerging and required eLearning needs for schools. In the next phase, projects and activities will focus on trialling and validating national approaches across jurisdictions and schools sectors.

These projects include:

• audits of: digital learning resources in all key learning areas of the Australian Curriculum; existing IT systems and infrastructure and their interoperability; copyright licensing practices in schools.
• pilots of: links between national assessment and digital resources; links between the Australian Curriculum and digital learning resources; national standards for student administrative data.
• implementation of: a National Schools Interoperability Program, that will facilitate communication and sharing across IT systems and provide advice on the technical aspects of eLearning; adoption of the Systems Interoperability Framework as the standard for administrative data in Australia; the National Digital Learning Resources Network, which has acquired over 11,000 resources since 2001.

Learning Impact Awards 2011

In February 2011 the Department sponsored the Australian Regional Finals of the 2011 Learning Impact Awards with the theme: Creating opportunities for learning in a digital world.

The Learning Impact Recognition and Awards Program is facilitated by the IMS Global Learning Consortium. The Learning Impact Awards are part of a global competition to recognise and encourage innovation in ICT in education. From the Australian regional awards, winners go onto showcase their entry on an international stage at the global Learning Impact Awards 2011.

This year’s regional event attracted 18 quality entries from across the schools, VET and higher education sectors. This was the most entrants the awards have had to date. After a day of judging, the regional Finalists were:

• Winner -  Mathletics, 3P Learning Pty Ltd
  
• First Runner-up -  Diving Supervisor and Chamber Supervisor Training Simulator, Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme Inc
  
• Second Runner-up -  Redefining ‘Class’, Andrew Douch, Wanganui Park Secondary School
  

Alongside the top three Finalists, four Encouragement Awards were also given out to entries that demonstrated a high level of quality in addressing technology challenges facing education:

• Remote Access Laboratory, USQ
  
• BlogED, NSW Department of Education and Training
  
• Deloitte Leadership Academy
  
• Finance for Housekeepers, Lycette and Associates

Details of all finalists can be found at Australian Learning Impact Awards 2011.

The Australian regional finalists went on to showcase their entries at the global Learning Impact 2011, held at Long Beach, California from 16 - 19 May 2011.

Historically Australia’s entries have done extremely well at the global Learning Impact Awards and again, all three finalists from the Australian event won further awards. The Diving Supervisor and Chamber Supervisor Training Simulator won a Platinum award, Mathletics won a Bronze award and Redefining ‘Class’ won a Leadership Award. Further details of the global award winners are available at global Learning Impact Awards Winners 2011.

The !DEA11 Conference – 30 November - 2 December 2011

The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations is sponsoring !DEA 11, a series of events focusing on the interoperability of current and emerging technologies that support learning. The conference will address opportunities and challenges across all sectors of education in supporting teaching and learning in digital environments. The theme for !DEA 11 is “Connectivity: Creating Learning Futures.”

The conference will:

• Provide a national, cross-sectoral forum for discussing innovation and technology in education
  
• Provide a showcase for Australian projects focused on technology in education 
  
• Foster alliances and communities of practice around technologies used by the Australian education community.

The conference will feature a number of international speakers along with recognised Australian experts in the field.

!DEA11 will also host the Australian Learning Impact Awards honouring innovation and ‘learning impact’ through the use of technology in education. Winners of the awards will be invited to compete in the 2012 IMS Global Learning Impact Awards in Toronto, Canada.

The conference will be held in Melbourne. For more information on the conference including registration details please visit the !DEA11 website.