[LINK] Broadband for a Broad Land

[Tom Worthington]

Frank O'Connor wrote:
> At 10:59 AM +1100 28/12/10, Tom Worthington wrote:
>> I started writing a submission for the NBN Inquiry:
>> <http://blog.tomw.net.au/2010/12/broadband-for-broad-land.html>.
>
> Mmm ... many Internet apps are Web based, and don't benefit from the 
> increase in bandwidth beyond the initial 12 Mbs ... The problem on the Web is latency ... and depending how the NBN 
> implements this the Web may or may not be a better experience. ...

I assume that the NBN's optical network will cut out many hops between
data source and the customer at home, reducing latency. What happens
with the wireless sevice is anyone guess. Are there any specifications
from NBN Co. about latency?

> I'd argue that education needs a new application/standard to supplement 
> the Web. Something built from the ground up to be interactive with the 
> student, responsive to their inputs and needs, and malleable enough and 
> easy enough to use for the teacher to add content and make the necessary 
> tweaks and changes to meet their students' needs. ...

Building new approaches from the ground up is not cheap or easy. As an 
example, the Australian National University is spending $3.8M on its 
Engineering 'Hubs And Spokes' Project: 
<http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Gillard/Media/Releases/Pages/Article_081211_140416.aspx>.

This is starting to produce useful results: 
<http://engnet.anu.edu.au/DEpeople/Kim.Blackmore/papers/Ascilite2010.pdf>.

My approach has been to adapt existing educational approaches and
technologies. That way I am more likely to get courses approved and have 
the resources to build them. With this I make the e-learning look as 
much like a traditional course as possible.

> If the changes happen at the application level the amount of capital and 
> other investment costs by schools should be minimal. ...

Schools have been designed on the assumption that students spend most of 
the time in classes. The schools will need fewer small classrooms and 
more large spaces. Universities have been built with more large lecture 
theatres than will be needed. More small rooms will be needed as well as 
"leanring commons". Remodelling these campuses will not be easy or cheap.

The Victorian government had produced a useful set of publications on 
                             the process of mapping from pedagogical 
approaches to the design of learning spaces: "Victorian School Design": 
<http://www.education.vic.gov.au/management/infrastructure/schooldesign.htm>.

Take the example of a school with 500 students, which is a bit more than 
the average of about 380 students per school in Australia: 
<http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4221.0Main%20Features22009?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4221.0&issue=2009&num=&view=>. 


Assume an average class size of 25, to make the maths easier (the 
average is about 24 
<http://austcolled.com.au/notepad/article/class-size-vexed-question-or-huge-distraction>).

So a school would require 20 classrooms each for 25 students, assuming 
the students spent most of their time in class. If the students now 
spend one fifth of their time in class, then only 4 classrooms will be 
needed. What will then be needed are other spaces for 400 students, 
perhaps a commons for 200, and other smaller spaces for 200.


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science, The
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/
Visiting Scientist, CSIRO ICT Centre: http://bit.ly/csiro_ict_canberra