[elearning] Sponsorship of school websites

Sat Mar 21 17:40:31 EST 2009

Talk to Tony Carrucan, (ex Victorian and ex St Michael's Grammar IT
director) for more info.  His details are on the Mediasphere website.

Clarke

From: elearning-bounces at edulists.com.au
[mailto:elearning-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Roland Gesthuizen
Sent: Saturday, 21 March 2009 5:06 PM
To: elearning Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [elearning] Sponsorship of school websites

Interesting suggestion Clarke, I might contact them for more information
about this. Had an interesting negative response from one parent.

Regards Roland

2009/3/20 Clarke Stevenson <clarke.stevenson at bigpond.com>

Hi Cameron

There is a solution provided my Mediasphere in Brisbane that a number of
school in Victoria have taken up that the schools control what they
advertise and the "business site" is separate to the "school's site".

"In addition to school websites, Mediasphere's has created a powerful and
effective fund raising e-business websites for schools. The simple-to-manage
e-business websites are linked to existing school websites and automatically
generate between $20,000 to $100,000 in fundraising revenue with free
services and benefits to parents and alumni."

For more information visit http://www.mediasphere.com.au/education

Clarke Stevenson
Director, Sales and Marketing
EdCube Pty Ltd
Ph: 03 9846 5602
Fax: 03 9846 5702
Mob: 0433 202 383
Skype: clarke.stevenson
c.stevenson at edcube.net
EdCube - Digital Portfolios made simple www.edcube.net 
Teacher Tube:
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=d91a15cf42214ae5f484 
http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=edcube

From: elearning-bounces at edulists.com.au
[mailto:elearning-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Cameron Bell
Sent: Wednesday, 18 March 2009 3:18 PM
To: elearning Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [elearning] Sponsorship of school websites

Whilst there are various points of view as to the relative merits of such a
system and the implications of sponsorship (which many schools seek for
other activities - sports, performances, music etc) I think the main reason
not to do it is that it (IMHO) makes the website look cheap, cluttered and
nasty. 

My Prin was quite clear - (paraphrasing) we are not going down that path -
it has nothing to do with our programs and cheapens/trivialises the website
and teaching and learning.

I was very happy to hear that.

Cameron

On 18/03/2009, at 1:30 PM, Roland Gesthuizen wrote:

Interesting development. A group is buying space on state school websites ..
actually it goes beyond this. They are taking over the entire school
website, offering free ! online hosting and tools to facilitate the
publishing of online content, in exchange for advertising space and a cut in
the online profits.
    http://www.sponsor-ed.com.au/

There are several primary schools on this program listed here and I notice
Kew High School. Our school administration was approached to be a secondary
partner. Faced with a glossy brochure, I was approached to take our current
school website down in exchange for this service. You can view the full list
here http://tinyurl.com/c3zad2 (google maps)

School sponsorship was raised over a decade ago by an ABC story back in 2000
with concerns raised by the different groups.
     http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/stories/s136808.htm

I have some further reservations whilst looking over this MCEETYA c! ode of
practice for school sponsorship
     http://www.mceetya.edu.au/mceetya/national_code_sponsorship,12054.html

>From what I can spot, there are a couple of concerns

*	Schools used as a captive market for commercial sponsors
*	Vendor lockin for internet hosting (considering the investment of
time to build a site or later migrate content with cut / paste)
*	Tacit endorsement of a product by association with the Department of
Education

Sponsor-Ed probably has the best wishes at heart, providing schools with a
precious revenue stream but I that alone does not make this a good thing.
Whilst there is no such thing as a free lunch, off the top of my head,
groups such as Google, WikiSpaces and Edublogs will remove commercial
advertising for their 'free' services when they are used by students.

Whilst they indicate that the sponsorship will be ethical but how will these
guidelines be managed? ! If the local mayor advertises, will political
parties be next? If we accept the red cross, how about green-peace or local
church groups? Do we next permit hospitals to promote themselves online with
ethical drug-company advertising? Will teachers next raise a few dollars
with an advertising banner bundled to their departmental e-mail messages?

Whist I am excited by new Web2.0 based techologies and free online hosting
of school websites, is this something that we really wish schools to engage
with? 

What are your thoughts?

Regards Roland

-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
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http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe 
eLearning Mailing List kindly supported by 
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-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
_______________________________________________ 
http://www.edulists.com.au  <http://www.edulists.com.au> - FAQ, resources,
subscribe, unsubscribe 
eLearning Mailing List kindly supported by 
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au  <http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au> - Victorian
Curriculum and Assessment Authority and 
http://www.vitta.org.au  <http://www.vitta.org.au> - VITTA Victorian
Information Technology Teachers Association Inc

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