A Computer For Every Student

A Rudd Labor Government will invest $1 billion over four years to turn every secondary school in Australia into a digital school.
Federal Labor’s National Secondary School Computer Fund will allow every Australian student in years 9-12 to have access to their own school computer.
Under Federal Labor’s plan, every secondary school in Australia, Government, Catholic and Independent will be equipped with the education tools of the 21st Century to teach the lessons of tomorrow.
The National Secondary School Computer Fund will allow secondary schools to apply for capital grants of up to $1 million to acquire new or upgrade information technology equipment.
This could include personal laptops or computers, thin clients with virtual desktops[1] and internet network infrastructure to plug our secondary schools into the information superhighway.

Under Labor’s plan, 99 per cent of school children will also get access to broadband connections of speeds up to 100 megabits per second at school through fibre to the premises (FTTP) broadband infrastructure.
The other one per cent of students will get improved access at school, via the best available fixed line, wireless and satellite technologies.
Every secondary student in Australia will graduate into a digital world and a digital economy: that means every secondary school in the country needs to be a digital school.

To stay competitive in a digital economy Australia must accept the fact that computer technology is no longer just a key subject to learn, it is now the key to learning in almost every subject.

    * In technical and applied studies, computer aided design is a key part of trades projects like furniture, electronics and materials.
    * In mathematics classes, students learn how to use spreadsheets to develop practical financial skills and analyse statistics.
    * In history classes, virtual tours of archaeological sites will bring the real world into the classroom.
    * In biology classes, digital time lapse photography will be used to monitor classroom experiments over time.
    * In foreign language classes, students benefit greatly by communicating online with overseas students to improve their verbal and comprehension skills.

Equipping every secondary school in the country to teach the lessons of tomorrow is vital to ensuring that every Australian secondary school graduate has the opportunity to secure one of tomorrow’s jobs.
A digital education will complement Federal Labor’s Trades Training Centres in Schools policy to ensure that more of our kids receive a technical education that equips them for the future.
Federal Labor’s National Secondary School Computer Fund recognises and understands the fact that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is also now becoming critical to most jobs in most industries:

    * In agriculture, through the use of ‘virtual farming’ for operations such as remote monitoring of the health of livestock; remote measuring of temperature, moisture and light, and controlling of irrigation systems.[2]

· In mining, ICT applications are used for stockpile management, logisitics, ore body evaluation, blast and mine design, mineral sampling and quality analysis, and seismic monitoring and geologic sensing.[3]

· In manufacturing, applications used to boost productivity include incorporation of computerised numerical controllers into machines, robotics, and local area communication and control networks in factories. [4]

· In service businesses, computers are used by architects transmitting fully rendered 3D models of buildings, by engineers transmitting geo-spatial models, and by doctors examining data intensive patient test results.

While Australia’s overall use of computers in schools ranks well among other developed economies, there is significant room for improvement in both the extent and sophistication of computer use in the classroom. 34 per cent of students are in schools where principals report that instruction is hindered by a shortage of ICT resources.[5]
Allowing every Australian student in years 9-12 to access their own school computer will do a lot more than give kids access to email and word processing.
Through the internet, secondary school students will have greater access to online resources such as e-books and documentaries and will be able to participate in teleconferences with on-site experts for science or humanities subjects.
This initiative is aimed at ensuring 1 million Australian secondary students get an education that prepares them for the jobs of the future.

A Rudd Labor Government will work co-operatively with State and Territory Governments, and the Catholic and Independent schools systems to partner this program by ensuring schools have sophisticated ICT strategies – including training, client support, maintenance costs and integration with the school curriculum.

Individual schools will be able to apply for a maximum of $1 million funding based on the number of students enrolled and existing information and communication technology capacity at the school.
Individual secondary school communities will have a say in what new or upgraded digital equipment best suits their needs.
State and Territory, Catholic and Independent school systems will tender for computers and installation of information technology on behalf of individual schools to maximise value for money. Local schools working together may coordinate their efforts through the use of multi-campus data centres that pool maintenance and support resources.

Individual secondary schools would able to reapply for capital grants every three years to update and upgrade their technology.

A Rudd Labor Government will also:

    * Work with the States and Territories and the Deans of Education to ensure new and continuing teachers have access to training that enables them to use the technologies broadband delivers to enrich children’s education experience.
    * Develop online curriculum resources for all students and conferencing facilities for those studying specialist subjects such as languages.
    * Develop web portals that enable parents to participate in their child’s education.

The provision of capital funding will be conditional on schools using robust internet filtering technology to protect children from inappropriate content.
Giving every Australian student in years 9-12 access to their own school computer will mean Federal Labor’s new National Curriculum will be able to include a vast new repository of online teaching materials.
Computers are no substitute for face-to-face teaching, but they provide a modern additional resource of immense value, connect Australian students to some of our finest scholars and institutions, open schools to the world, and encourage independent research and curiosity in the next generation of Australians.