EdNA

[ARTHUR,Evan(EA0018)]

Some more thoughts, hopefully of some use in keeping the debate going.

One of the starting points for what has become the EdNA initiative was the 
perception first  that education systems, institutions, staff members and 
students were increasingly using electronic networking as an educational 
resource and second that there was a lot of reinventing the wheel going on, 
not to mention mutually incompatible approaches being pursued.  This led to 
the view that maybe there was some value in the key players talking to each 
other (!) and seeing if there were areas in which there would be value in 
acting cooperatively.  What has resulted is a process which has attempted to 
find areas in which cooperation will provide benefit without imposing 
counterproductive centrally dictated solutions.   Exactly what benefits will 
be forthcoming will depend, in large measure, on what individual 
participants contribute.

It is certainly true that there are  many service providers who can offer 
connection to the Internet.    However, are there particular types of value 
added services which educational institutions need from a service provider 
such as account management facilities which allow them to manage students 
use of on-line resources and receive a single bill for all their use of 
network resources?  Is it better for each institution to negotiate all these 
details or are there some common  requirements which can be agreed upon? 
 Are there support services which the education sector particularly needs? 
 Can the education sector improve the range of services available by 
defining a market need as a sector and pursuing the services it needs?  The 
key question is what things can be agreed on collectively to ensure users 
can get on with the job of using the technology in creative and innovative 
ways to improve Australian education.

It is certainly true that State Governments have contracts for computer 
purchase which give them leverage in the marketplace.  However, this does 
not mean that there is no value in attempting to increase the market 
leverage by attempting to cooperate across State borders and involving 
players such as the Catholic and Independent school systems.  One 
consequence may be that the price which institutions pay is not linked to 
the size and 'muscle' of the State where they are located.  Instead all 
Australian educational institutions may be able to benefit equally.

The issue of 'professional development' to ensure that teachers are equipped 
to make the best use of the technology is crucially important.  While not 
formally part of the EdNA initiative it is being addressed by the relevant 
areas of DEET in close consultation with the EdNA Taskforce.   Any funding 
initiatives associated with this would need to be considered in the context 
of the 1996/97 Federal Budget.

Evan Arthur
Head
Education Networking Taskforce