My colleagues and I at CORE have been putting a lot of thought into the prospect of the Network for Learning that is currently under consideration by the Ministry of Education. According to the plan, by 2016, 97.7 per cent of schools will receive ultra-fast broadband connections enabling speeds of 100 Mbps. The remaining schools, which are in the most remote locations, will receive a high speed wireless or satellite connection.
I believe this represents a huge opportunity for NZ schools, and a chance to do some catching up with our counterparts in other parts of the world in terms of providing a high quality, realiable and robust connection to the online world – and with that, a suite of services that will truly benefit learners and their learning, not to mention teachers!
As part of the work we've beend doing to support this thinking, we've developed a series of videos to help try and explain what we see as the potential of this network, and why it needs to be developed in a manner that can best be described as an 'ecosystem' – building on the combined efforts of a variety of contributors across three key areas that make up this network.
The first of the videos to be completed is embedded above – and references a diagram I blogged about over a year ago that was developed to help explain to schools how things fit together. I'd be interested in feedback on how useful you find this…
I think this video is useful for teachers, communities and students to understand the big picture of what is happening with bringing in the N4L. What remains to be answered is the best way to promulgate this information. There is a lot of disconnectedness between teachers, parents, students and schools in some areas. Areas last to be connected to UFB are already suffering because the infrastructure is not in place, while other schools are blossoming with the tools available to them. The digital divide is well and alive in many areas of New Zealand. Thanks for the video, Derek, it gives me a chance to cogitate more on what we can do before we eventually get connected in 2015.
Useful thanks Derek.
@Leigh – N4L board has recognised this disconnectedness as one of the important things we need to address. There is a huge amount of very useful information out there but it is fragmented and comes from lots of different perspectives, which can be quite confusing.
Re equity as between schools – another area we'll be focused on. We can't just wave a magic wand and get everyone to the same SNUP'd UFB nirvana at the same right now but we need to make sure everyone is on the path and there are interim measures which stop the gaps.
@ Rick – Thanks for your response. I realise it is tough to get everyone on board within a short time but it is frustrating to know that some of us have done so much to prepare, and I have seen many schools very ill prepared in the last 10 weeks while I have been on sabbatical looking at eportfolios. It seems to be very ad hoc, (not choosing schools which are prepared) and while I do understand that two different Ministries have orchestrated the changes, it seems that they haven't coordinated very well. Everything comes to those who wait……so they say.