The Australian educational computer that never was

Computers are now commonly used in Australian schools, as in most developed countries. In the early 1980s, a multitude of incompatible microcomputers sought to enter the education market, presenting a significant problem in terms of technical support and teacher professional development. To address this, Australia investigated designing and building its own educational computer. This article tells the story of how Australia's educational computer was designed but never actually built

The Australian Educational Computer That Never Was

Abstract In Australia, as in most developed countries, computers are now commonly used in schools. In almost all cases, schools will use either a Windows PC or an Apple Macintosh. This was not the case in the early 1980s however when microcomputers first began to appear in schools. At that stage, before the appearance of either the PC or the Macintosh, there was a multitude of incompatible microcomputers seeking to enter the education market. This presented a significant problem to education authorities: how were all these types and makes of computer to be supported with professional development for teachers and with suitable educational software? There were just not the funds to support such a large range of computer systems, and the choices available to schools needed to be reduced. The first step to addressing this problem was for each State Education Department to recommend only those computers that it would support. Later, for both educational and industrial reasons, Australia investigated designing and building its own educational computer: all schools would then be encouraged to use just this machine, making support very much easier and more efficient. I had a direct involvement in much of this project. This article tells the story of why and how this happened, and how Australia's educational computer was designed but never actually built

Building equitable literate futures : home and school computer-mediated literacy practices and disadvantage

This paper examines the complex connections between literacy practices, the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and disadvantage. It reports the findings of a year-long study which investigated the ways in which four families use ICTs to engage with formal and informal literacy learning in home and school settings. The research set out to explore what it is about computer-mediated literacy practices at home and at school in disadvantaged communities that make a difference in school success. The findings demonstrate that the \u27socialisation\u27 of the technology - its appropriation into existing family norms, values and lifestyles - varied from family to family. Having access to ICTs at home was not sufficient for the young people and their families to overcome the so-called \u27digital divide\u27. Clearly, we are seeing shifts in the meaning of \u27disadvantage\u27 in a globalised world mediated by the use of new technologies. New definitions of disadvantage that take account not only of access to the new technologies but also include calibrated understandings of what constitutes the access are required. The article concludes that old inequalities have not disappeared, but are playing out in new ways in the context of the networked society.<br /

Development and feasibility testing of an education program to improve knowledge and self-care among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients with heart failure

INTRODUCTION: There is a 70% higher age-adjusted incidence of heart failure (HF) among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, three times more hospitalisations and twice as many deaths as among non-Aboriginal people. There is a need to develop holistic yet individualised approaches in accord with the values of Aboriginal community health care to support patient education and self-care. The aim of this study was to re-design an existing HF educational resource (Fluid Watchers-Pacific Rim) to be culturally safe for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, working in collaboration with the local community, and to conduct feasibility testing.  METHODS: This study was conducted in two phases and utilised a mixed-methods approach (qualitative and quantitative). Phase 1 used action research methods to develop a culturally safe electronic resource to be provided to Aboriginal HF patients via a tablet computer. An HF expert panel adapted the existing resource to ensure it was evidence-based and contained appropriate language and images that reflects Aboriginal culture. A stakeholder group (which included Aboriginal workers and HF patients, as well as researchers and clinicians) then reviewed the resources, and changes were made accordingly. In Phase 2, the new resource was tested on a sample of Aboriginal HF patients to assess feasibility and acceptability. Patient knowledge, satisfaction and self-care behaviours were measured using a before and after design with validated questionnaires. As this was a pilot test to determine feasibility, no statistical comparisons were made.  RESULTS: Phase 1: Throughout the process of resource development, two main themes emerged from the stakeholder consultation. These were the importance of identity, meaning that it was important to ensure that the resource accurately reflected the local community, with the appropriate clothing, skin tone and voice. The resource was adapted to reflect this, and members of the local community voiced the recordings for the resource. The other theme was comprehension; images were important and all text was converted to the first person and used plain language. Phase 2: Five Aboriginal participants, mean age 61.6±10.0 years, with NYHA Class III and IV heart failure were enrolled. Participants reported a high level of satisfaction with the resource (83.0%). HF knowledge (percentage of correct responses) increased from 48.0±6.7% to 58.0±9.7%, a 20.8% increase, and results of the self-care index indicated that the biggest change was in patient confidence for self-care, with a 95% increase in confidence score (46.7±16.0 to 91.1±11.5). Changes in management and maintenance scores varied between patients.  CONCLUSIONS: By working in collaboration with HF experts, Aboriginal researchers and patients, a culturally safe HF resource has been developed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. Engaging Aboriginal researchers, capacity-building, and being responsive to local systems and structures enabled this pilot study to be successfully completed with the Aboriginal community and positive participant feedback demonstrated that the methodology used in this study was appropriate and acceptable; participants were able to engage with willingness and confidence

Older Australians and the Internet

In late 2009, Sandra Haukka secured funding from the auDA Foundation to explore what older Australians who never or rarely use the Internet (referred to as ‘non-users’) know about the types of online products and services available to them, and how they might use these products and services to improve their daily life. This project aims to support current and future strategies and initiatives by: 1) exploring the extent to which non-users are aware of the types and benefits of online products and services, (such as e-shopping, e-banking, e-health, social networking, and general browsing and research) as well as their interest in them b) identifying how the Internet can improve the daily life of older Australians c) reviewing the effectiveness of support and services designed to educate and encourage older people to engage with the Internet d) recommending strategies that aim to raise non-user awareness of current and emerging online products and services, and provide non-users with the skills and knowledge needed to use those products and services that they believe can improve their daily life. The Productive Ageing Centre at National Seniors Australia, and Professor Trevor Barr from Swinburne University provided the project with in-kind support

Excessive online computer use and learning disabilities

Online gaming has become a very popular leisure activity among adolescents. Research suggests that a small minority of adolescents may display problematic gaming behaviour and that some of these individuals may be addicted to online games, including those who have learning disabilities. This article begins by examining a case study of a 15-year old adolescent with a learning disability who appeared to be addicted to various computer and internet applications. Despite the potential negative effects of excessive internet and gaming, the article then briefly reviews the therapeutic benefits of gaming for the learning disabled before examining some of the potential factors in gaming addiction. The article concludes with some advice for parents about what issues to consider in relation to making child and adolescent gaming as safe and enjoyable as possible

Measuring the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the classroom

In 2003, the ICT Curriculum Integration Performance Measurement Instrument was developed from an extensive review of the contemporary international and Australian research pertaining to the definition and measurement of ICT curriculum integration in classrooms (Proctor, Watson, & Finger, 2003). The 45-item instrument that resulted was based on theories and methodologies identified by the literature review. This paper describes psychometric results from a large-scale evaluation of the instrument subsequently conducted, as recommended by Proctor, Watson and Finger (2003). The resultant 20-item, two-factor instrument, now called Learning With ICTs: Measuring ICT Use in the Curriculum is both statistically and theoretically robust. This paper should be read in association with the original paper published in Computers in the Schools (Proctor, Watson & Finger, 2003) that described in detail the theoretical framework underpinning the development of the instrument

ACT to improve ICT use for learning: a synthesis of studies of teacher confidence in using ICT in two Queensland schooling systems

A review of the literature about student use of ICT and the impact of ICT use on learning reveals a complexity of rationales and terminology that underwrite ICT initiatives; various dimensions and stages of integration; inherent methodological difficulties; obstacles to integration such as teacher ICT confidence, expertise and beliefs about the potential for ICT to make a difference to student learning; teacher professional development; school technological infrastructure and support; and the need for ICT leadership (Jamieson-Proctor, Burnett, Finger, & Watson, 2006). This paper investigates the overarching research question - Are ICT initiatives having the desired impact on teaching and learning in schools? It provides a synthesis of the results of recent investigations by us in Queensland State and Catholic schools involving 2652 teachers from 168 schools across the two systems. Significant statistical findings that link teachers’ confidence in using ICT with students, to the quantity and quality of students’ use of ICT for learning are highlighted. The findings support the hypothesis that current ICT initiatives are having less than the desired result in both Queensland systems. The paper concludes with a call for Australia-wide research to unpack and address the factors, such as teacher confidence, that are currently constraining the use of ICT within Australian schooling systems

Zeitgeist: information literacy and educational change

Information literacy is a mosaic of attitudes, understandings, capabilities and knowledge about which there are three myths. The first myth is that it is about the ability to use ICTs to access a wealth of information. The second is that students entering higher education are information literate because student centred, resource based, and ICT focused learning are now pervasive in secondary education. The third myth is that information literacy development can be addressed by library-centric generic approaches. This paper addresses those myths and emphasises the need for information literacy to be recognised as the critical whole of education and societal issue, fundamental to an information-enabled and better world. In formal education, information literacy can only be developed by infusion into curriculum design, pedagogies, and assessment

Looking for Shadows: The Cultural Myths of the Computer in the Classroom

This paper will draw its findings from a recent study (Lloyd, 2003) which sought to identify the cultural myths of the computer in the classroom through a case study of computer education in Queensland state schools from 1983 to 1997. This was a period marked by its consecutive, discrete, high-profile and politically-motivated projects to put computers in classrooms. The emergent myths were categorised within their source metanarratives and were also positioned within a critical cultural framework. The term "computer education" is given to mean any curricular or classroom-based use of computers. This study addressed a hitherto neglected area of educational research by looking beyond the rhetoric and highlighting where policy decisions have been made on the basis of mythic assumptions. The identification of the cultural myth(s) in this study was essentially a process of looking for shadows. Finding the twenty-seven pervasive myths which initiated and sustained the systemic policies, infrastructure programs and curricular decisions of the period under review involved rigorous processes of deconstruction, reconstruction, analysis and synthesis. The data sources were contemporary policy documents, Hansard entries, press releases and media statements, correspondence and interviews with stakeholders while the methodology employed was an adaptation of Descriptive Interpretational Analysis (Tesch, 1990)