[LINK] 50 years of Teleworking Fantasies to COVID-19 Reality

[Roger Clarke]

> On 8/4/20 9:21 am, Marghanita da Cruz wrote: 
>> ... from Teleworking Fantasies to COVID-19 Reality ...

On 10/4/20 8:01 am, Tom Worthington wrote:
> In my 1993 future history of Canberra *this year* it becomes the world 
> capital, due to superior computing facilities: "Canberra 2020: World 
> Information Capital", Informatics Magazine, September 1993: 
> http://www.tomw.net.au/1993/cnbfut.html

I was a member then Chair of a Ministerial Advisory Committee that did 
what it could to keep that dream alive:
http://rogerclarke.com/II/ACS-OLSAG-Rpt-981112.doc

And here's another giggle from the visionary past:

 > The economic arguments in support of a participative information 
infrastructure go beyond cost-replacement. The prototype of a 
democratic, participative information infrastructure, the Internet, 
represents an 'electronic playground'. Students in tertiary institutions 
make what some people regard as frivolous use of transmission capacity 
to file diatribes about matters of ephemeral significance to small 
groups of highly dispersed aficionados, to participate in multi-user 
games, to conduct opportunistic, poorly conceived and poorly managed 
searches, and to experiment with new ideas for services. Yet precisely 
these frivolous uses are providing these young people with the means to 
pursue ongoing self-education and discovery.
 >
 > 'Distance education' is becoming much more than just a means to 
attain geographical equity for far-flung populations; it will become a 
way of life for a workforce continually preparing itself for the next 
change in market demands. The foundations have been laid for our own 
ongoing 'cultural revolution' - a welling-up of new and revised ideas 
and artefacts.

 > Exhibit 5: Indicative List of Information Services
 >-   low tail-capacity requirements  [incl.]
 >    -   data transfer for working from home (telecommuting/teleworking)
 >    -   education services incl. remote classroom teaching (text-only)
 >-   moderate tail-capacity requirements [incl.]
 >    -   multi-media mail, including video (i.e. asynchronous messaging)
 >    -   modest-quality video-telephone (i.e. synchronous conversations)
 >    -   video conferencing (including 'virtual meetings')
 >    -   education services, e.g. remote classroom teaching (incl video)

Clarke R. (1994)  'Information Infrastructure for The Networked Nation'
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, November 1994, at 
http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/NetNation.html


Shorter version in:

Clarke R. & Worthington T. (1994)  'Vision for a Networked Nation: The 
Public Interest in Network Services'  Proc. Conf. Int'l Telecomms Soc., 
Sydney, July 1994,
original lost at https://www.acs.org.au/president/1997/acsnet/acsnet.htm
but fortunately archived at 
https://web.archive.org/web/20120625011201/http://www.acs.org.au/president/1997/acsnet/acsnet.htm
and http://rogerclarke.com/II/ACS-VisionForANetworkedNation-1994.html

Tom, the ACS screwed up the publishing framework you established for it 
(c. 2000?).  They broke the link between 25 Jun 2012 and 2 Sep 2012.

______________________________________________________________________

> Also right here on the Link List from 2012: "Use e-Learning to Teach 
> Teleworking": 
> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/pipermail/link/2012-January/096038.html
> 
> And here is one I don't remember writing. Apparently it was Submission 
> 17 to the "Inquiry into the role and potential of the National Broadband 
> Network":
> 
>      "4.99 Mr Worthington noted that the long term restructuring of the 
> education systems towards a more efficient and effective ‘blended’ mode 
> of education will require ‘retraining of teachers, restructuring of 
> courses and the remodelling of buildings’ at a cost ‘far higher than for 
> the implementation of the NBN itself’.[110]
> 
>      However, he also noted that due to the relative size of Australia’s 
> expenditure on education, if the NBN can enable a 10 per cent reduction 
> in the cost of education it would be enough to pay for the entire 
> network within eight years.[111]"
> 
>      From House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure 
> and Communications, August 2011 
> http://www.aphref.aph.gov.au/house/committee/ic/NBN/report/1.%20Final%20NBN%20Report.pdf#page=112 
> 
> 
> Closer to reality, last year I used a blended design in the "Learning 
> Reflect" module for ANU TechLauncher computer project students. In the 
> unlikely event an international crisis stopped students from getting to 
> campus, the face-to-face components could easily be swapped out, making 
> it fully online. This year, the unlikely crisis happened, and I just had 
> to change a couple of sentences in the course to activate this option. 
> If the students return next semester, I just have to swap the F2F bits 
> back: 
> https://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/2020/03/designing-in-on-line-learning-option.html 
> 
> 
> 


-- 
Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA 

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University