Education Commons^™

Digital Fluency For The Digital Age, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

A digital fluency subject to teach students the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for the digital age is needed, writes Gerald White.

Digital Fluency: Skills Necessary For The Digital Age., Gerry White

Dr Gerald K. White

Many researchers argue that major innovations, especially the internet, adopted by society, have an effect on the structure of the human brain, which may or may not be a change for the better. If the structure of the human brain and ways of finding information and communication are changing as a result of the internet, then changes to the way that students learn, and probably what they are learning, would appear to follow. This article examines the skills that will be required for the twenty first century that will need to be embedded in educational curricula in order to achieve …

Digital Fluency : Skills Necessary For Learning In The Digital Age, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

This article examines the skills that will be required for the 21st century that will need to be embedded in educational curricula in order achieve them. It begins by considering how communicating between people has changed and current educational responses. A view of 21st century skills follows with an argument for some core subjects that will be necessary. Learning and teaching are then discussed leading to a view about what is needed in order to develop digital fluency in education, for now and the future.

Forward Thinking : Three Forward, Two Back : What Are The Next Steps?, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

The use of digital technologies and digital media in teaching, learning and leadership in education has gradually gained momentum since the 1980s, when personal computers first became popular. The resultant media hype and educational posturing by technology evangelists were given a boost with the take up of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s. And significant investment followed nationally and internationally. So what have we learnt in that time about using technology for teaching, learning and educational leadership? What will be the challenges for successfully using digital technologies in education in the next five years?

This address briefly traverses …

Grey Literature In Australian Education, Gerry White

Dr Gerald K. White

Gerald White discusses the need to better organise the proliferation of non-commercially published reports and documents of particular importance in the area of public policy.

Ict Research Comes Of Age, Gerry White

Dr Gerald K. White

That is not to suggest that teachers and students do not use ICT. In fact, they are two of the highest ICT user categories reported by ACMA and ABS. However, the combination of ICT and education programs in classrooms and courses is a situation where issues about pedagogy and the benefits to learning with ICT continue to be debated.

Digital Social Networking : Implications For Education, Gerry White

Dr Gerald K. White

Social networking in education continues to be a controversial topic, with debatable benefits for learning. There is persistent confusion about this due to social networking's dual purposes: formal education and private entertainment. But the impact of self-directed learning using online services is equally important as formal learning. The use of social networking in education, coupled with face-to-face engagement, can enable greater inclusiveness for learners, although the role of teachers needs to be well supported to develop successful digital pedagogies. Research indicates that the learning gains from using social networking in education are significant and so courses about how to use …

A Digital Education Revolution : Realising The Possibilities, Managing The Realities, Linda Rosman, Gerald White, Kerry-Anne Hoad

Dr Gerald K. White

This report presents the outcomes of the series of Symposia 'A Digital Education Revolution; realising the possibilities, managing the realities'. ACER initiated the Symposia, developed the program, delivered research content and managed the promotions and coordination for each event. ACER proposed the series of Symposia in response to the current interest, conversations and debate within schools and systems. The goals of the Symposia were to illuminate the possibilities and the realities of the DER initiative through informed presentations, discussions, debates and conversations, and to provide feedback to DEEWR on the school based concerns and key issues that emerged. ACER initially …

Digital Learning: An Australian Research Agenda, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

The purpose of this paper is to provide some suggestions for consideration of directions for Australian educational research about ICT in education, more recently being called digital learning. A number of agencies in Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA have already embarked on developing research agendas and undertaking research into the use of digital learning. This report highlights some of the significant areas in which research has been undertaken and isolates those areas where there may be a need for further research or where there are gaps in the research agenda for Australia. This paper is …

Ict Trends In Education Ii, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

In the second part of this two-part article, the author looks at professional collaboration using Web 2.0, mobile technologies and the way the World Wide Web (www) is influencing scholarship, before investigating some of the likely future trends in ICT. A major question in education is how to maximise the uses of ICT in education, taking into account that ICT is much more than a tool and provides a digital window to globally accessible information and new ways to interact in the creation of knowledge. Web 2.0 applications are changing the manner in which people connect and interact in ways …

Ict In Education., Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

Information and communications technology (ICT) in education has been taken up by educators and educational researchers since the 1980s with varied success, although it is the relatively new uses of the Internet and World Wide Web that are stimulating new demands and expectations in education, even if research to guide best practice remains scant. In order to identify the trends occurring in ICT in education and research, the author starts with a brief history that has a number of implications that might help us to think about the pathways that ICT may take in an education context. From this brief …

Online Learning Services In First Gear, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

With the effort expended by educators being the greatest cost of e-learning, this article suggests that unless technology can assist teachers in offering improved learning programs, then its use should be questioned. Many existing software packages known as learning management systems (LMS) are appropriate for managing content, delivering courses and managing student records. They are a specific part of the e-learning agenda but should not be considered comprehensive e-learning packages. In the main, such packages are most suitable for distance learning. E-learning, on the other hand, includes a diversity of learners engaged in technology-enabled services. Education services providers and software …

Tales From The Edge: How The Web Is Changing Learning., Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

There has been a period of strong growth for the use of the World Wide Web in education in Australia. The focus has been about providing quality educational resources, services and adequate bandwidth for accessing information. However, the uses of the web have changed considerably, with innovative ways of harnessing the new technologies and new thinking about web services which is being called Web 2.0 and is changing the ways that people think, work and learn. Interactive Personal Technologies (IPN) which have been developed more recently have seen remarkable take-up in Australia and globally. This paper and presentation argue that …

Innovating With Technology: The Challenge To Education Policy, Leadership And Management, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

This presentation introduces the topic of using ICTs in education from an Australian context by posing the question of 'Why?' It then goes on to briefly examine the introduction of computers and the World Wide Web, cites a seminal report entitled Australia?s Future Using Education Technology, and finally, refers to a paper about the evolution of methods of communication that humans have developed for common use and which are fundamental to education.

Mlearning In Education: A Summary, Heather Watson, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

This review summarises the current situation of mlearning in Australia, identifying government mlearning initiatives and considering the following: delivery issues; the digital divide (access, ICT literacy and information literacy); content issues (available, affordable and appropriate); national strategies (integration, coordination); worldwide mLearning. The authors conclude that education can benefit from using emerging mobile technologies to deliver learning matched to the increasingly 'neomillennial' learning styles of their students. They assert that mLearning is a collection of pieces to be fitted to a learning need, not a single solution. Good teachers, communication, collaboration and stimulating activities are essential.

Australian Skills For The 21st Century, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

An overview of the changes which are occurring in Australia and the work that has been undertaken related to ICT in the VET sector. Also to be discussed are the skills in ICT that will be needed for Australia to be successful in a global society.

Learning Environment Design For Learners And Teachers, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

This paper proposes that for elearning to be taken up widely by teachers and learners, a broadly purposed or designed elearning environment of essential educational elements needs to be available. It suggests that the work of preparing online learning programs involves seven different elements which can be organised into seven distinct digital online services layers. Further, from research conducted into educational usage of the internet in the Global Gateways (2003) report, there would appear to be four different types of educational users of Web services to be taken into account when constructing educational online environments.

Beyond The Horseless Carriage: Harnessing The Potential Of Ict In Education And Training, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

This paper suggests that the use of ICT has changed our conventional way of understanding learning and proposes the need to rethink education in terms of a more current context. Beyond the Horseless Carriages was first published as a paper for the Board of education.au limited on 28 January 2005, and following wide consultation has been republished for general readership.

Education.Au Limited And Shared/Common/Web Services - Discussion Paper, Gerald White, Claire Murray

Dr Gerald K. White

This paper encapsulates the key points raised at an Education.au workshop, in early December 2003, and in doing so provides an overview of innovation and growth prospects that Education.au could pursue in the areas of shared, common and web services

Global Gateways: Transforming Learning Through Online Knowledge Networks, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

Gerry's presentation focused on issues and trends identified in the Global Gateways report.

Shared Online Content And Services, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

The purpose of this paper is to introduce thinking about shared national online content and services which are commonly used and required by stakeholders in education and training.

Getting The Most Out Of Our Online Teaching Resources, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

Australia’s achievements in developing quality online resources for vocational education and training are exemplary. A number of well coordinated national initiatives have paved the way in developing an infrastructure for the creation and deployment of online content for learning and training. The Australian Flexible Framework initiative, which has adopted a holistic approach to content development, has had a significant impact on transforming flexible learning through professional development, community building, mentoring, and building its capacity to share teaching and learning resources across state boundaries. But many challengers remain. How do we ensure that mechanisms are in place to facilitate unrestricted access …

The Changing Landscape: E-Learning In Schools, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

This paper explores key initiatives over the last decade which have contributed towards building the foundations of an e-learning environment. What is e-learning? What are the key characteristics of e-learning? What are the benefits, requirements and rewards are also discussed. Exemplary e-learning services, managed by education.au, built to meet some of the requirements of e-learning are described as well.

Education Network Australia - Discover, Communicate, Collaborate, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

This paper is about an innovative collaborative venture of the Australian Commonwealth and State/Territories Education Governments, initiated in the mid ‘90s. The initiative was a response to the emerging need of the education and training communities for a coordinated approach in optimising the potential of information and communications technology (ICT) in teaching and learning at all levels – early childhood, schools, adult and vocational education and training, and higher education. The project is managed by education.au limited, a national Australian ICT agency established by a ministerial council of all Australian Ministers of Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) for …

Lessons Of Collaboration, Gerald White

Dr Gerald K. White

Currently the international approach to online education is diverse, with each country doing its own thing. This paper is a proposition that we can achieve better online learning outcomes by working collaboratively than by working in isolation.

Benchmarking Educational Websites: Edna 1999, Claire Campbell, Gerald White, Liz Babidge

Dr Gerald K. White

The advent of the Internet and the use of the World Wide Web (www) have changed the ways people and organizations disseminate information, broadened the means by which industries worldwide deliver services and, in so doing, shortened the distance between members of the global community. These developments have also provided implications and opportunities for the establishment and maintenance of mutually beneficial online alliances worldwide. EdNA Online - an online manifestation of the networked education community in Australia (hence the acronym EdNA for Education Network Australia) - plans to be in a position to capitalise on these national and international strategic …