[Year 12 IT Apps] FW: Ultranet

Cameron Bell bell.cameron.p at edumail.vic.gov.au
Tue Aug 21 07:18:54 EST 2007


Like the post Roland, thanks for the link.
I'd just like to mention that I was told Ultranet *must* created by a 
consortium as no one company has all the required expertise to create 
all the required bits and pieces. However, it appears that some 
consortiums have a better chance than others, due to participation in a 
pilot program. Bit like teaching jobs - I bet some companies are saying 
"Is this a /real/ tender?"
Like Mark, I don't want to bag what I haven't seen.
Cheers
Cameron
PS Are you getting an UltraLoo?

Roland Gesthuizen wrote:
> G'day and thanks Mark,
>
> as it is a public tender process I can only suppose that we are 
> allowed to crack our whips and shout at the bull threatening to jump 
> out of its horse pen and into my classroom. You are right of course, 
> we don't know too much about UltaNet short of it probably being a very 
> ambitious, expensive, multi-functional space shuttle / magic school 
> bus that has been assembled by tender to a single major corporation.
>
> 10 years ago, hotdog and notepad were cool for web editing. Oddly 
> enough, back then an argument could have been constructed to pour 
> money into building a government owned HTML editor, buying out 
> "hotdog" type solution or later a web server. It is now even harder to 
> predict the ICT outcomes or pressure points for the next 10 years. 
> There is a detailed analysis of projected technological developments 
> and their social, political and economic implications in this report 
> about a projected vision of the Web in the year 2020. Many pages and 
> worth reading the conclusions.
> http://www.sirc.org/publik/web2020.shtml
>
> When DE&T are talking about these huge sums of money per tax payer, 
> they absolutely must get it right.
>
> There is no excuse for not running trials like the one at your school, 
> soliciting feedback from interest groups, undertaking some solid 
> research before forging ahead with plans. Sadly, obsolescence is 
> something we come to expect from government IT initiatives. Anything 
> that ignores the good work by pioneers, anything less than open 
> decisions based on public evidence and International open standards is 
> adding fuel to the fires of suspicion and mistrust.
>
> When we publicly deliberate and reflect upon all our different views, 
> it probably also prevent us from being accidentally sat upon.
>
> Regards Roland
>
> PS: After a decade of writing grant after grant application, last year 
> we finally secured one for an upgrade to our main toilet block. Ow 
> joy! :-)
>
> On 20/08/07, *Mark Kelly* <kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au 
> <mailto:kel at mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au>> wrote:
>
>     I dread to say this, since I am usually The Cynical One Lambasting The
>     Establishment (TCOLTE), but...
>
>     Dare I suggest the motives of DE&T are less Machiavellian than you
>     might
>     fear?
>
>     Could they even have genuinely altruistic motives?
>
>     Yes, I was a part of the Ultranet trial, but that is not the reason I
>     say this.
>
>     For DE&T to actively counteract any motive force in a pre-emptive and
>     self-satisfying manner is to assume they have a motive for doing
>     so...
>     and when have they shown any signs of oppressing Moodlish
>     installations
>     in schools?
>
>     Could it be that they are in fact trying to satisfy a need in schools
>     that some pioneers have already explored with Moodling, or
>     equivalent?
>
>     I'm not getting paid for this, but I'm holding off pre-emptive
>     criticism
>     until I see the beast that's provided for me to ride.
>
>     Etc
>
>     Mark
>
>     Stephen Digby wrote:
>     > Yes.
>     > The current review of government school intranets is the first
>     step in
>     > the claw back of control of school IT.
>     > They are starting with requiring schools to document their
>     networks and
>     > redesign them under a single blueprint.
>     > Under the guise of security they will then shut down "unsupported"
>     > external access tools like moodle.
>     > To justify the ridiculous expenditure on UltraNet, they will
>     require all
>     > schools to use it, thus making maintenance of other tools a costly
>     > duplication rather than an alternative.
>     > Any deficiencies in the system will be met with either denial or
>     more
>     > wasted investment....
>     >
>     > Hear this before ?
>     >
>     > Heard of "CASES" ?
>     >
>     > ====================================================
>     > Stephen Digby, Learning Technology Manager
>     > mailto: admin at cheltsec.vic.edu.au
>     <mailto:admin at cheltsec.vic.edu.au>
>     <mailto:admin at cheltsec.vic.edu.au <mailto:admin at cheltsec.vic.edu.au> >
>     > Cheltenham Secondary College www.cheltsec.vic.edu.au
>     <http://www.cheltsec.vic.edu.au>
>     > <http://www.cheltsec.vic.edu.au/>
>     > Ph: 613 955 55 955  Fx: 9555 8617 Mb: 0431-701-028
>     > ====================================================
>     > Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a
>     cruel
>     > libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans
>     > themselves. Albert Einstein
>     >
>     >
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     > *From:* itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au
>     <mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au>
>     > [mailto: itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au
>     <mailto:itapps-bounces at edulists.com.au>] *On Behalf Of *Andrew
>     Grimshaw
>     > *Sent:* Monday, 20 August 2007 3:27 PM
>     > *To:* Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
>     > *Subject:* Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] FW: Ultranet
>     >
>     > Am i silly to assume that we will be able run our moodels as
>     well as the
>     > ultranet? - i cant think of any reason why we couldn't
>     >
>     > andrew grimshaw
>     > colac college
>     >
>     >     ----- Original Message -----
>     >     *From:* Roland Gesthuizen <mailto:rgesthuizen at gmail.com
>     <mailto:rgesthuizen at gmail.com>>
>     >     *Newsgroups:* local.it.itapps
>     >     *To:* Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List
>     >     <mailto:itapps at edulists.com.au <mailto:itapps at edulists.com.au>>
>     >     *Sent:* Monday, August 20, 2007 1:37 PM
>     >     *Subject:* Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] FW: Ultranet
>     >
>     >     Hmm, they didn't answer the $M60 question asked.
>     >
>     >     Oddly enough, they invited Laurie to download the tender.
>     Cute :-)
>     >
>     >     It would be an interesting to post a tender response.
>     >
>     >     A survey is nice, but I wonder at the depth and level of
>     >     consultation with the subject associations and professional
>     groups
>     >     already doing cool activities with tools such as Moodle. This is
>     >     about teaching and learning, not just worksheets, software and
>     >     bandwidth. For now, we we can only speculate at the deeper
>     >     educational pedagogy and research that underpins this centralist
>     >     model for networked service delivery. Anybody who can
>     predict the
>     >     world beyond 2017 is a fool. I'm certainly not holding my
>     breath.
>     >
>     >     It is really great to see ALL the different learning tools
>     we are
>     >     all using and engaged by the exciting things that are
>     happening.
>     >     Only last week, a new teacher was posted here a swag of
>     ideas from
>     >     MS Sharepoint users. Thats cool! There is a very real
>     strength in
>     >     our current diversity of tools, teaching styles and innovative
>     >     solutions, many in spite of poor funding or administrative
>     hurdles.
>     >     The VITTA annual conference is a celebration of these success
>     >     stories by a community of practicing educators.
>     >
>     >     Should we be concerned about an all embracing, centralist
>     model for
>     >     networked service delivery for Victorian state schools? I
>     suppose we
>     >     could be proactive and engage with the tender process .. or
>     keep on
>     >     doing the fun stuff that engages and teaches our students :-)
>     >
>     >     Regards Roland
>     >
>     >     On 20/08/07, *Laurie Savage* <sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au
>     <mailto:sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au>
>     >     <mailto:sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au <mailto:sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au>>>
>     wrote:
>     >
>     >         I emailed the Ultranet people, here is their reply.
>     >
>     >         Laurie
>     >
>     >         -----Original Message-----
>     >         From: Quach, Tam T
>     [mailto:quach.tam.t at edumail.vic.gov.au
>     <mailto:quach.tam.t at edumail.vic.gov.au>
>     >         <mailto:quach.tam.t at edumail.vic.gov.au
>     <mailto:quach.tam.t at edumail.vic.gov.au>>] On Behalf Of
>     >         Ultranet
>     >         Sent: Monday, 20 August 2007 9:28 AM
>     >         To: sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au <mailto:sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au>
>     <mailto: sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au <mailto:sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au>>
>     >         Subject: RE: Ultranet
>     >
>     >         Hi Laurie
>     >
>     >         Thank you for your enquiry of 17 August 2007 regarding the
>     >         Ultranet.
>     >
>     >         The Department of Education is aware that some schools
>     are using
>     >         learning
>     >         management systems such as Moodle.  Please refer to section
>     >         8.1.20 of the
>     >         Request for Tender specifications below:
>     >
>     >         8.1.20 Learning Management Systems
>     >         A few Victorian government schools have made investments in
>     >         third party
>     >         learning management solutions. Solutions include (but
>     are not
>     >         limited to)
>     >         Edumate, My Classes, Scholaris, Studywiz, Moodle,
>     Blackboard and
>     >         other
>     >         custom developed intranet solutions.  The solutions are
>     >         implemented within
>     >         schools' curriculum network environment. DoE is in the
>     process
>     >         of conducting
>     >         an extensive survey of existing applications in use at
>     schools
>     >         to assist in
>     >         formulating the data conversion and change management
>     strategies.
>     >
>     >         Learning management systems, however, are only one
>     component of the
>     >         Ultranet.  The other components include:
>     >
>     >         . Strategy
>     >         . Learning and Teaching Management
>     >         . Administration
>     >         . Collaboration
>     >         . Student Information
>     >         . Staff Information
>     >         . School Information
>     >         . Reporting
>     >         . Productivity Tools
>     >         . Architecture
>     >         . Security
>     >         . Standards
>     >         . Change Management
>     >         . Development and Implementation
>     >         . Service Hosting, Operational Support and Maintenance
>     >
>     >         The Ultranet Request for Tender was released publicly on 1
>     >         August 2007.  You
>     >         can the Ultranet RFT from the Victorian Government
>     Tenders web
>     >         site at
>     >         www.tenders.vic.gov.au <http://www.tenders.vic.gov.au> <
>     http://www.tenders.vic.gov.au>.  Search
>     >         for 'Ultranet'. You will need to register on
>     >         the site in order to download the document.
>     >
>     >         I hope this answers your question.
>     >
>     >         Regards
>     >         Tam Quach
>     >
>     >         -----Original Message-----
>     >         From: Laurie Savage [mailto: sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au
>     <mailto:sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au>
>     >         <mailto:sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au <mailto:sav at pvgc.vic.edu.au>>]
>     >         Sent: Friday, 17 August 2007 3:35 PM
>     >         To: Ultranet
>     >         Subject: Ultranet
>     >
>     >         We are already using a colloborative, intuitive e-learning
>     >         system that is
>     >         under constant development and improvement. We use it
>     for VELS
>     >         and VCE
>     >         cources. It is free, open source and can be tailored to
>     local
>     >         needs. It is
>     >         written in PHP and uses a free backend database. It is
>     called
>     >         Moodle. Does
>     >         the state need to spend $M60 to implement an untried
>     alternative?
>     >
>     >         Laurie Savage
>     >         ICT/Comm. Tech. Teacher,
>     >         Pascoe Vale Girls College
>     >
>     >         Important - This email and any attachments may be
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>     >
>     >
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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
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>     > - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and
>     > http://www.vitta.org.au <http://www.vitta.org.au> - VITTA Victorian
>     > Information Technology Teachers Association Inc
>
>     --
>     Mark Kelly
>     Manager - Information Systems
>     McKinnon Secondary College
>     McKinnon Rd McKinnon 3204, Victoria, Australia
>     Direct line / Voicemail: 8520 9085
>     School Phone +613 8520 9000
>     School Fax +613 95789253
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>
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>     Teachers Association Inc
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> 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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