Rudd promises a computer on every school desk
Summary: Labor party leader Kevin Rudd has today promised a AU$1 billion fund to give every senior secondary school student in years 9 to 12 access to a computer at school.
Labor party leader Kevin Rudd has today promised a AU$1 billion fund to give every senior secondary school student in years 9 to 12 access to a computer at school.
Speaking at the ALP's federal election campaign launch in Brisbane, Rudd said that the "groundbreaking reform" would make every secondary school in Australia a "digital school".
"I want to provide every secondary school student in Australia with the foundations to move into the digital economy of the future," he said.
Rudd promised that the investment would not be a 'one-off', acknowledging the need to keep computer systems up to date.
"We'll fund replacement of these systems to keep them at the cutting edge," he said. "And for those schools that have already provided computers each or most of their students, our plan will allow ... to upgrade what they already have."
The ALP's National Secondary School Computer Fund offers all high schools whether public or private a mechanism to apply for grants of up to AU$1 million for the supply of laptops, PCs, thin clients and network infrastructure.
Rudd also stepped up his attack on the government's technology credentials, highlighting the need for faster broadband and an answer to the skills crisis.
The ALP has already promised that 99 per cent of school children would have access to connections of up to 100 Mbps under its national network plan, with the remaining over per cent covered by fixed line, wireless and satellite connections.
"Mr Howard seems to believe that providing our young people with computers is exotic," he said. "Mr Howard just doesn't get it. Around the rest of the world, its not exotic, its mainstream."
While making no specific mention of the technology industry, Rudd acknowledged that more generally Australia is suffering from "an acute skills crisis".
"The government itself projects that Australia will suffer a shortage of qualified workers of up to 200,000 by 2010," he warned.
To that end, Rudd announced that he would tackle the crisis with four years of funding for an additional 450,000 training places -- including 65,000 apprenticeships, across industries.
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Talkback
Why not OLPC Australia ?
Imagine online access to digital textbooks, assignments, class notes, etc. etc. from anywhere in the school and at home. It would also not take much to create many new applications suitable for schools, and user content would no doubt take off quickly.
If this is integrated into the existing OLPC program, it would also provide a boost and a model for implementation of this excellent project in less developed countries.
olpc
Great ideas but...
Really the arguement should be about quality of learning, and the MacOSX has some great learning software. But how does a government body go against the grain of Microsoft marketting in such a fickle and expensive area.
When it comes to spending big the safe bet always wins - which is unfortunate for the childern.
Perhaps a diversification program could be part of the package to show children that the computing world isn't branded with only the MicroSoft way of thinking.
What?
First poster:
I can see the black market in laptop computers rising significantly. I'm not all that long out of high school and I wouldn't give a laptop to more than half the students I went to school with - now think of this on a national scale.
Digital textbooks, remote access to learning materials, it's all sounds wonderful - but lets get kids using computers first, you know, turning it on? You're not looking at the larger picture here, not everyone is that well off.
It would be more feasible for the Department of Education and Training to host centralised learning resources through their new, improved, spent lots of money on, DET Portal instead of each school reinventing the wheel.
Second and Third Poster:
It's really nice you have opinions and all but it's not going to make a shred of difference what operating system the computers come with. It's not a matter of getting back at Microsoft, or fairness between operating systems. Fact of the matter is, students will be taught to use the platform their teachers are most familiar with, end of story.
It's about getting technology to kids and reducing the digital divide, not promoting harmony between Linux and Microsoft users.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not Microsoft fan boy either but try stay on topic.
In Addition:
Typically, children today grow up with computers in their bedrooms, Internet hooked up, iPods hanging out of their ears and so on. I said typically, not everyone. Some kids can't touch a computer at school let alone know what an 80GB iPod is.
Giving every kid a laptop to take home isn't really an option either. Force them to sign an agreement, lock them with down with group policies and one of three things will happen:
1) They won't be used because they aren't interested, or don't know enough about them to be interested or use them
2) They'll be used and abused, get lost, stolen and will need replacing
3) They get used properly and they all live happily ever after
double what?
re: "students will be taught to use the platform their teachers are most familiar with" Yes, some IT teachers are poorly skilled. As a secondary school teacher, I commonly observe elective IT students are far more knowledgeable than their teachers... students have the time to teach the teachers, but often the teachers are to proud to learn.
Furthermore, the OS/GUI discussion is very much topically focused: cost, functionality and GPL vs DRM are crucial factors to be considered.
Granted, your final points 1 & 2 are an issue.
laptops for high school children
OLPCs for high school?
So while the OLPC may not be appropriate for this particular use case, there are plenty of opportunities for it in our country and region.
Look forward to the OLPC Australia project and organisation: http://www.olpc.org.au/ :-)
!!
relply
city slickers need to get out of the concrete jungle!
and for those saying who the hell is she to say this crap sitting on a computer... I am one of the lucky few who have been able to experience both ends of society, ive lived in the slums of society and mixed with the rich and posh, and i would choose the slums any day over the posh stuck up paper weilding toffs of society. knowing that I can contribute to the countries food supply and keep all you morons alive is more rewarding then sitting on my ass at a desk for 8 hours a day playing with a computer. On that note, try turning your computer off for a day or two and teach the kids how to survive in one of the most unique countries in the world. teach them about what this country has to offer OUTSIDE the concrete jungle you have prolly never left!
no laptops
s--t. rudd gave away 2 much money trying 2 buy every1 that now he has 2 start 2 cut back on things eg education. alot of kids from low income families dont have computers let alone know how 2 use them. the only time at school that they have full classes is in yr11 and yr12 they only dabble with computers before these years. there are a quite a few children that are gifted with computers but more often kids know nuthing about computers. i know that alt of students are now upset with the system that has now taken the hope of a laptop away from them.
I dont want a laptop
This is due to several factors; for one point, it is quite easy for students to subtly play computer games, which are not sufficiently blocked by the school's filtering program, without the teachers knowledge.
Another disadvantage of employing computers further in the classroom would be the disintegration of important aspects of learning. Using computers to store notes rather than using the age old method of hand-writing would, at least for myself, not in the least assist revising or memorizing notes, I find the glare of the screen and the monotony of the fonts too distracting and disturbing. I honestly prefer to research using provided classroom textbooks as opposed to using the Internet, I find it easier to access the required information, rather than spending much stress-filled time attempting to perfect the list of key words in order to find the information desired. With the recent debate on grammar, and it's involvement in education, I am inspired to note most students would be inclined to use 'spell check' and 'grammar check', rather than practicing their knowledge whilst writing. This could become an issue if the laptops were to be gradually used with younger students, unless this function was removed from the computer. Also, handwriting would be much effected for the worse.
Also, I recall being advised not to increase 'screen time' (including television, computer, etc.) above two hours a day. Approximately four hours a day using computers at school grossly exceeds the recommended limit. Perhaps research has since proved this wrong.
I can not see why the money (apparently $807 million) could not be invested differently. Why not spend it on renewable energy to power some schools? Why is modernizing Australia through computer technology so important?