Kevin Rudd’s key election promise (in 2007) that every Australian student in years 9 - 12 should have access to their own computer remains in limbo almost two years after the government was elected. I want EVERY Australian student from prep to Yr 12 to have a netbook.
The ‘Education Revolution’ is attracting increasingly harsh criticism as the weeks roll by with debate focused on how technology can enable students to reach their full potential.
I firmly believe technology can play a major role in helping Australia offset a shrinking pool of teachers and education resources by giving students access to a multitude of quality online learning tools with faster broadband and better technology.
In the age of Google and open source, never has access to information been freer or easier. This empowers people to take greater control over how they equip and educate themselves for life. Personally, the most valuable lessons I’ve learned were through using Google to research my own interests, develop my understanding of business and build Kogan.
A simple Google search can help anyone tap in to the millions of free resources that allow people to download books, videos and journals. The education sector could save millions every year, as well as help cut down on greenhouse gas emissions by making more use of the internet as a platform to share information. Students could do their homework in a 100% digital format and cut our nation’s waste dramatically.
I believe every Australian student should have their own netbook. More affordable and accessible technology will result in a smarter and more productive nation and help students maximise their potential.
When I was at school, I would have much preferred to carry all my educational needs on a 1kg netbook than lug around a 20kg backpack filled with books.
With access to their own netbook and the internet, the current generation of school children would enter a new era of education that will give them a greater role in guiding their future.
How do you think Mr. Rudd’s ‘Education Revolution’ is going? With the national broadband and internet filter issues sparking passions, I am also curious about people’s views on the state of the nation’s technology.
I think Australia is far behind from being a ‘world leader’ in access to technology and needs to do more. It’s interesting to see that the organisation behind One Laptop per Child (OLPC) has even taken to supplying needy communities in Australia – work in developing nations. Other major brands have also started aggressively marketing their IT equipment to school kids in an effort to meet Australia’s growing appetite for technology.
For the those with kids or any teachers out there, what impact do you think accessible technology can have on a child’s education?
Ruslan
Comments
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Rik says...
yeah the facts really speak for themselves: australia is far behind than the rest of the world with DSL broadband technology (currents speeds achieving only upto 24MB/s), i would like to see however the push for wireless (3G) internet instead of the current DSL system (which is becoming old and costly to set up) in the near future eventually replacing current DSL broadband (and also PSTN telephones themselves should also be replace by VOIP system through 3G internet)
P.S. don't think rudd's education revolution is gonna happen anytime soon, that stupid dumbass spent all the valuable money (his government inherited from the previous one) on stupid stimulus handouts instead of investing it towards science and technology, i now believe we might've actually been better off under a liberal federal government, this current labour government is nothing but a joke
Posted at 11:41 a.m. on August 29, 2009
a says...
It is a government think about that it's not about individuals but the hole picture maybe you need to understand the market before commenting on that side if the stimulus wasn't handed out you would only have safeway or big companies as these crooks to buy from because most small business would have been broke.
Posted at 4:08 p.m. on August 30, 2009
Li says...
re: "if the stimulus wasn't handed out... most small business would have been broke", that's an interesting point of view, but I think it is wrong. My understanding is that government stimulus end up benefitting large companies the most, because these days they are the most leveraged/in debt and have the most to lose. This is as opposed to small businesses that are nimbler. Sure many would go under, but many more would pop up when real opportunities arise from dying bloated giants. Ultimately, government "stabilisation" is more about maintaining the corporate status quo. That's why they call it "too big to fail".
In regards to education, it is interesting to note the wider trends. Have you guys checked out all the free materials and lecture videos available from MIT, one of the best unis in the world?
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
It seems like such an obvious thing - lectures as they exist in most institutions are a tremendous waste of resources. If it is all about listening to some guy speak and go through notes, why bother being so inefficient as insist people are there? This allows more time and effort to focus on creating quality interactions in tutorials (which might also work online with tech like this: http://www.portaleducation.com.au/ , but I am yet to be 100% convinced of it's effectiveness).
PS. I know a lot of tutorials end up being wastes of time too because 1. tutors don't care or 2. students don't care. There is a simple solution to this: always make them voluntary.
Posted at 5:09 p.m. on August 30, 2009
Sam says...
Hi,
I am in year 11 at school and apparently we won't be recieving netbooks at all!! Only year 9 will recieve them, and they haven't even got them yet!!! I find this another failed promise by Kevin Rudd to win the election. One netbook to every student in Australia? Its impossible!! I will be waiting for my netbook for the rest of my life!
Anyway nice article, put it straight forward.
Posted at 6:16 p.m. on September 2, 2009
Danilo says...
Heys ,
Im currently in Yr 9 and i will be recieving my netbook in a week or two. Not every student is recieving them just Yr 9 will be.... YAY go RUDD
Posted at 8:52 p.m. on September 2, 2009
sunny green says...
Agree with Rik -- But the idea is good -- there are bbc, britanica -- teach kids online with lot of maths, science etc. -education revolution -- Best revolution -- have single education system across Austrlia -- and more efforts and teaching resources in tutoring, teaching online, have nationalise exam system --- the social security is for people who completed the school -- then as every would got educated -- nobody want any money from Govt. and ecnomically very strong nation - as a nation of European migrants -- Will be top of the world -- now every europena country including Russia learning English -- They will out beat everyone in the planet in science and engineering -- Now is the time for us to wake up -- Will be difficult when the resource runs out in 30 years time --- they way they dig would not even lost for 30 years
Posted at 11:55 a.m. on September 3, 2009
Randy says...
Since the Agora Phone blog has closed down,
With not a word, whimper or a sound,
From Kogan about their stand,
About an Australian Android phone not in hand.
So I choose to post my words here,
And hope to evoke a single tear,
Despite his words upon that day,
Back in January with words of another on its way
As his words of things to come,
Echo words of the government that won,
So I say I have turned my back,
On this product that Kogan lacks
Instead I find a HTC Hero coming to hand,
Speeding to me by post across the land,
Soon to arrive next week at my door,
Time I think for parties galore!
Drinking and singing and watching shows,
on products that do not feature kogans' glow
Not an item I shall take
From this site that dangles fakes.
Posted at 12:20 p.m. on September 3, 2009
Gareth Pye says...
Studies where the other variables have been kept equal have shown that children with access to a computer do worse than their peers with out one. The typical correlation between children learning and access to a computer is actually only a correlation between other social factors, they just happen to be likely to give a child a computer and a better education.
Rich/Well Educated parents = a child with access to better schooling and instruction/help from their parents. It also means they'll have a computer.
A computer doesn't solve any of the problems a child has other than boredom, and that is just by giving them a computer to play games on. You have to spend money on solving the real problems: Quality Teachers, Quality Resources (which does include computers, but not one in every classroom for every child)
Computers do no offset any of the other problems.
Posted at 1:47 p.m. on September 3, 2009
Pat says...
Network Economics!!
This means the cost of any additional user to a current network is statistically zero cents. Telco companies are ripping off consumers. I met the R & D Director of Telia the Swedish Telstra several years ago when only Sweden and a few other countries had the 3G network. This fellow a PhD in physics told me that it cost less than 0.000001 of a cent to send an sms, that was in 2000. Bet you wont find that information freely available just as we cant find what it really costs to roll out this system in Australia. Did you know Telstra currenty gets 45% of their revenue from data traffic?
While I'm having a 2 cents worth. The children of today are growing up in a digital age and they ought to be taught to read,write, type and use the computer congruently and for that to happen they all need something like an inexpensive netbook.
Wherever your politics lay I don't believe children should be advantaged or disadvantaged based on the level of income their parents have. i.e. wealthy parents affording to provide the tools needs to be educated well. Digital kids still need thinking skills but don't delude yourself into thinking that they will get these skills from schools alone, whether it be private or public.
Schools, well that is another debate entirely.
Cheers
Pat
Teacher and Business Consultant
Posted at 11:31 p.m. on September 26, 2009
andrew says...
I am a network technician in a school and I don't think we should give every student in Australia a computer. I see what the students do to government resources. They destroy them. I think if students want to get a notebook they should pay for it themselves. They should get a job and earn it. That way they won't treat tax payers money as a waste.
Posted at 1:33 p.m. on September 28, 2009
Barton says...
@Rik You are very ignorant. I'm in Year 8 and we've already been signed out netbooks for next year.
@Sam I don't think that the government will give you a netbook because you are leaving in a year.
Posted at 6:39 p.m. on October 1, 2009
Chris Tagle says...
To the current high school students:
Your school can opt to provide you with netbooks. The main idea behind the Government promise was to provide student with access to their own computer. Now, to get more technical 'access' would mean your classroom, library computers, not necessarily your very own personal computer. In this day an age we are very close.
But to be honest, $900 economic stimulus money has been given to a large population of people. Let alone, for students - their parents can claim half the cost of computer and learning relevant material (like computers, software etc) on their tax return. This is a lot of money.
But to avoid digressing; to be honest the fundamentals of learning should not require a computer. It is most certain that a computer can facilitate and promote learning, but it doesn't mean that you require it in the first place.
You can learn how to add 1 and 1 together both with and without a computer. But perhaps complex algebra must be learnt in theory first, then practiced on a graphics (technology) calculator first.
Posted at 4:50 p.m. on October 7, 2009
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Andy Lau says...
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Posted at 5:05 p.m. on October 19, 2009
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