[Yr7-10it] Ultranet

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

You make good points, Ros and Geoff .. after all this, Ultranet is a bit
of a worry, isn't it? Corporations can muck-up brilliant concepts so well

If Ultranet requires any double-entry-book-keeping, or maybe, impinges on
good curriculum delivery in any negative way, many people will be unhappy

Ah well, our Victorian NAPLAN test scores are just STUNNING! Well done us!

"The report found Victorian students at Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 were 
significantly higher than the Australian average in reading, writing, 
grammar, punctuation and numeracy, and significantly higher than the 
Australian average in Years 3, 5, and 7 in spelling."


Cheers,
Stephen

Ros writes,

I love the line... 

Ms Pike said the project 
would still be delivered within the original budget of $60.5 million and 
the original timeframe of the third quarter of 2010.

Firstly the "original" timeframe was the second quarter of 2008, that's 
why all the ultranet coaches were appointed at the end of 2007 to start 
at the beginning of 2008. Ms Pike's version of "original timeframe" is 
the timeframe which they rejigged after the first tender process went 
down the drain.
Secondly, considering that all those Ultranet coaches will have been paid 
LT rates for two years before it is even rolled out how could it still be 
on budget?

They would be better putting the money into creating moodle blocks to do 
the extras that they want, and teacher education in the use of ICT's. 
60.5 million is a damn lot of money that could be much better used in a 
1000 different ways. But instead we will end up with something that is 
probably irrelevant to our needs, a resource hog, etc etc.

Why isn't the government looking at Open Source software?? Or are the 
kickbacks too much of an enticement?? 

But we have been through all of this before on the list *sigh*

Cheers
Ros Meadows
Bentleigh SC


and Geoff writes,

News, yes. But I'll believe it when I see it.

As for giving other states something to aim for, I disagree.

Qld, for example, is rolling out a customized Sharepoint state wide.
With a centralized one for staff & department stuff, and a local one for
each school. Heavy PD and assistance for schools.

Seems smart to me - proven software, customized. Not centralized for
schools, only centralized for departmental stuff.

And it's already happening after a trial.

Pretty good I reckon. :)

Geoff



stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote: 

not really new news, certainly good news

giving other states something to aim for :)

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/news/mediareleases-education.htm


>From the Minister for Education 

FIVE VYING FOR VICTORIAN SCHOOLS ULTRANET TENDER Friday, 14 Nov 2008
  
Five software companies are vying for the $60.5 million Ultranet project 
as part of a selective tender process announced today by Education 
Minister Bronwyn Pike ..  

"The Ultranet project provides an exciting glimpse of what education will 
look like when teachers, students and parents have a single information 
point and access to vital information 24 hours a day, seven days a week," 
Ms Pike said..

"We know that children perform better at school when their parents are 
involved and interested in their education, so in line with the 
directions of our recently released Education Blueprint, the Ultranet 
will help facilitate a greater engagement of parents with their child’s 
education.."

The shortlisted companies are Blackboard Australia Pty Ltd, Desire2Learn 
Incorporated, Microsoft Australia, Oracle and RM Asia-Pacific.

They were selected in accordance with strict probity requirements, based 
on their individual merits and following a global search for companies to 
meet the needs of such a large-scale IT project. Ms Pike said the project 
would still be delivered within the original budget of $60.5 million and 
the original timeframe of the third quarter of 2010.

--
>From the Minister for Education 

VICTORIA AMONG AUSTRALIA’S BEST IN SCHOOL TESTING  Friday, 19 Dec 2008

More detailed results from Australia’s first national school testing 
shows that Victoria’s Indigenous students and those from non-English 
speaking backgrounds are among the country’s best. 

Education Minister Bronwyn Pike said the 2008 National Assessment 
Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) Stage 2 Report results released 
today showed Brumby Government’s investment in initiatives to improve 
literacy and numeracy are having a positive impact.

The latest figures breakdown Victorian student performances into 
categories of gender and geographic location and also look at the 
specific performances of non-English speaking students and Indigenous 
students.

Ms Pike said the report was good news for parents who can be confident 
that students are gaining vital skills as they move through the various 
stages of their schooling.

“The results are great news for Victoria’s education system,  but more 
work is needed to help some students who may be falling behind,” she said.

“We are continuing to invest in a range of strategies and programs to 
ensure students develop these vital skills and have every opportunity to 
thrive, learn and grow. 

“We are serious about closing the gap for Indigenous students and believe 
our initiatives including 15 new literacy improvement specialists for 
Koorie students and introducing individual education plans for every 
Koorie student will lead to even better outcomes for Koorie students.”

Ms Pike said the Brumby Government’s Education Strategy for Koorie 
Students – Wannik: Learning Together, Journey to Our Future – was focused 
on delivering a better deal for Victoria’s Koorie students.

Another Brumby Government initiative to ensure every child has every 
opportunity regardless of their circumstances is the package to support 
refugee students, announced in this year’s State Budget.


It includes support to coordinate homework programs run by volunteers at 
schools, libraries and community locations across Victoria and funding 
for professional development for teachers, counselling support in schools 
for students and helping schools to access a range of specialist agencies 
and resources.

This is in addition to a package including new purpose built relocatables 
for intensive language classes, more money for transition programs and an 
after school hours learning support program in Melbourne’s West.


Stage one of the NAPLAN report was released by the Ministerial Council of 
Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in September. 


That report found Victorian students at Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 were 
significantly higher than the Australian average in reading, writing, 
grammar, punctuation and numeracy and significantly higher than the 
Australian average in Years 3, 5, and 7 in spelling.

Performance of students with a Language Background Other than English 
(LBOTE)

•    The average scores for Victorian LBOTE students are higher than for 
Australian LBOTE cohort in all domains for Years 3 and 5, and for Years 7 
and 9 Writing.

•    Victorian results are similar to the Australian LBOTE average in all 
other domains for Years 7 and 9.

Performance by gender

•    Both male and female students in Victoria achieved higher results 
than their counterparts in Australia in all domains for Years 3 and 5. 

•    Male students achieved higher results than their counterparts in 
Australia in all domains for Years 7 and 9, except for Year 9 Spelling, 
and Grammar and Punctuation, where their results are similar.

•    Female students achieved higher results than their counterparts in 
Australia in all domains for Years 7 and 9, except for Years 7 and 9 
Spelling, and Year 9 Grammar and Punctuation, where their results are 
similar.

Performance of Indigenous students

•    The average scores for Indigenous students in Victoria are higher 
than those for the Australian Indigenous average scores in all domains 
and for all year levels.

•    The proportions of Victorian Indigenous students achieving at or 
above the national minimum standard are higher than those for the 
Australian Indigenous average in all domains and for all year levels, 
except for Year 9 Spelling and Numeracy, where the results for Victoria 
are similar to the Australian average.

Student performance by geographic location 

The average scores for students in metropolitan areas:

•    The results for Victorian students are above the Australian average 
in all domains for Years 3 and 5, in Writing for Years 7 and 9 and in 
Grammar and Punctuation for Year 7.

•    The results for Victorian students are similar to the Australian 
average in all other domains for Years 7 and 9.

The average scores for students in provincial areas:

•    The results for Victorian students are above the Australian average 
in all domains and for all year levels, except for Years 7 and 9 Spelling 
and Grammar and Punctuation, where Victoria’s results are similar to the 
Australian average.

For the proportion of students in metropolitan or provincial areas 
achieving at or above the national minimum standard, the results for 
Victoria are either similar to or above the respective Australian average 
in all domains and for all year levels. 
--

Cheers,
Stephen
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