Education.au chief executive Greg Black says the Federal Government’s proposed $43 billion National Broadband Network will revolutionise education in Australia.

Mr Black says faster broadband speeds will dramatically change the way lessons are delivered, introducing new multimedia elements and enabling teachers to access materials from around the world.
“Increased videoconferencing capacity could assist students in remote regions of Australia,” Mr Black says.
Education.au is a non-profit government-backed agency, based in Adelaide, which provides web services to, and fosters the integration of ICT within, Australian schools and other educational institutions.
“The proposed network will change the nature of teaching and learning for all Australian teachers and students,” Mr Black says.
“Increased broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps – compared to the speeds of less than 5Mbps most people have in their homes now – will enable the transfer of information and communication between students and teachers in ways we can only begin to imagine.
“Students will be able to participate in learning from home, with virtual classrooms delivering anything from group discussions to complex laboratory classes in real time through high-definition video conferencing.
“Schools have the potential to become 24/7 institutions run in a way similar to the School of the Air.”
Mr Black said the technology would completely transform the delivery of professional development programs, enabling workers in locations such as mines, national parks and small-town hospitals and emergency service to access the same materials as their peers in metropolitan regions.
Students currently unable to study less popular subjects at their own schools - such as some languages or the increasingly large range of senior secondary subjects - would be able to join programs offered at other schools, he said.
However, Mr Black warns there will have to be major changes in broadband cost structures if Australia is to reap the potential benefits of what would become the world’s most advanced broadband network.
“The removal of the bandwidth barrier means we will now face new barriers in how service providers charge their customers, particularly in the costs of downloading,” Mr Black says.
“We would strongly recommend that any costs related to downloading for education and training institutions be removed.
“However, questions about how to charge customers who are registered students and need to download significant amounts of data for educational purposes.”
Mr Black says remote communities would be the first to see obvious benefits of the new network.
“For the first time, Australians in more remote regions of the country would not be penalised in terms of educational or business dealings just because they have chosen not to live in the major population centres,” Mr Black says.
He predicts that increased access to high-speed broadband could create other opportunities, such as:

*     Australia-based students of Japanese descent connecting with students in Japan to discuss issues in “virtual world” Japanese houses

*     Geography students taking pictures and recording oral histories during field trips, then sending them immediately to their school-bound classmates.

*     Music students around the world creating an online symphony.

*     Apprentices joining training sessions on interactive television at their workplaces, rather than formal external classrooms.

*     Medical students practicing surgical skills by accessing virtual operations online.




Article reproduced with thanks to education.au.
About Education.au
Education.au is Australia's leading information and communications technology (ICT) agency and delivers a range of web services to clients in the higher education, schools education and vocational education and training sectors. Established in 1996, Education.au is a not-for-profit company, governed through a board by nominees from the Australian Government, higher education, school education, and vocational education and training sectors.