The Australian Computer Society (ACS) National Computer Education Committee (NCEC) is one of a number of Committees which make up the Community Affairs Board (CAB) of the ACS.
Ralph Leonard was appointed Deputy Chair of the NCEC in 2004. Ralph Leonard – email address: rleonard@nereus.com.au - is Principal Policy Officer in the Department of Further Education Employment Science and Technology in the Government of South Australia. He is also president of the Australian Council for Computers in Education (ACCE) of which ACS is a member. ACCE is the national umbrella association of computer education groups in states and territories. Its role is to undertake national projects as well as advocate for the issues of members of state groups who are teachers using learning technologies in education.
Other individual members of the NCEC include:
Dr Elizabeth Stacey is a Senior Lecturer in the Education Faculty at Deakin University, Melbourne. She is a member of the IFIP TC3 WG3.6 (Distance Education). She teaches educational psychology and educational computing courses to preservice teachers with particular focus on the use of computers and communication technologies in the curriculum. Her research and publications are focused on these areas including learning with computers and the use of interactive technologies, particularly audiographics, interactive television and computer conferencing.
Her doctoral research has explored collaborative group learning through computer mediated communication with adult learners. She is a Joint Chief Investigator with Professor Terry Evans on an Australian Research Council funded research project investigating the use of interactive television in the Australian school system.
She is currently coordinating the Open and Distance Education Specialism in the Master of Professional Education and Training and is part of the Education Doctorate team supervising students researching flexible learning and computer and communication technologies.
Associate Professor Sandra Wills is Director of the Centre for Educational Development & Interactive Resources ( CEDIR) at the University of Wollongong. She has over 25 years international experience in the field of education and technology from primary through to university education including teacher training, as well as curriculum and software development. In addition to her academic career, she has held a number of positions and consultancies in marketing and industry development and is active on the international lecture circuit. She was elected a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society in 1991. Awards include Australian Computer Society Lecturer of the Year and the IFIP Silver Core for services to computers in education as Chair of several national and international conferences, boards and committees. She is currently on the boards of Impart Corporation and Propagate, two DEETYA-seeded ventures fostering Australia's multimedia industry.
The key role of ACS Branch representatives on the ACS CAB National Computer Education Committee is to keep the NCEC informed on computer education initiatives in their Branch, and to keep their Branch (in particular, their Branch Executive Committee) informed on the work of the NCEC. For example, if a Branch prepares a consultancy report on computer education, the Branch representative on the NCEC would normally have a role in moving forward proposals from that report which have the support of their BEC and the NCEC. It is useful if Branch representatives also liaise with their State/Territory affiliate to the Australian Council for Computers in Education (ACCE), the national council of which is an ex-officio part of the NCEC. Details on these State/Territory organisations affiliated with the ACCE are on the ACCE web page at: http://www.acce.edu.au/
The time commitment required to do this work is flexible - a lot of the work is at the initiative of the Branch representative. Ideally, the ACS Branch representatives on the NCEC will prior to their appointment be a key figure in computer education in their State/Territory computer education community, and their NCEC ACS Branch representative work will at least in part be linked with work they are already undertaking in computer education.
Susan has resided in the Territory since 1992 and within that time she has had a diverse range of experience in urban, rural and remote education. In 1998 Susan completed a Master of Education through NTU which incorporated a research project on the implementation of the Internet in NT education. She anticipates commencing an Honours year in 1999. Her current areas of interest are in the development of online educational content, distance education and economic, legal and social issues associated with the Internet.
To apply to join an NCEC Taskforce one should write to the Chair of the Taskforce, with a cc: to the Chair of the NCEC - a.mcdougall@edfac.unimelb.edu.au - and the Director of the ACS Community Affairs Board - rsuresh@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au
Please address the criteria listed above in your application.
Associate Professor Toni Downes is the Chair of the IEET.
The aims of the taskforce are to:
THE SCOPE OF the taskforce:
The Taskforce considers uses of ICT:
TEACHER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMPETENCIES PROJECT
Teacher as an Individual and a Member of Community
It can be argued that we need to consider the role of teachers and their use of information and communication technologies on three levels - as an individual and on a personal level; as a member and client in local groups and national enterprises; and as a citizen in a global economy.
Changing Nature of Education
As part of these societal changes, education and the teaching and learning process in classrooms is also changing. Teachers' possible uses of information technologies, when working with colleagues and with students and parents, can be re-analysed in the context of individual, national and global impacts. Examples include rethinking schools as workplace and learning communities, the growing use of the gathering of 'real' data collected either locally or globally, and the processing of information for analysis and publishing via staff and student presentations. Teachers' skills and understandings of how they might work with other teachers and students to use information technologies in 'learning projects' are crucial.
ACCE Project
Arising from discussions earlier in 1998 of the changing role of teachers and their place in schools and society, the ACCE Board initiated a 'Teacher Information Technology Competencies' project. Graham Ferres presented an overview of the Australian and overseas movement towards developing sets of teacher competencies in the field of information technology (e.g. Finn & Mayer, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, USA). It was noted that the American systems have tended to focus upon student benchmarks for 'computer literacy'. ACCE resolved to continue to strongly support teachers in their development of understandings about how to use information technologies with students and as part of their professional work life.
Capabilities, Competencies and Standards
In July ACCE ran a national conference in Adelaide, during which the Council conducted a seminar focussing on the trend towards state systems outlining desired or required competencies for teachers, particularly in the use of information technologies.
Bruce Rigby described how Victoria published in March 1998 a 'Teacher Capabilities Kit' including a collection of statements of desired teacher capabilities, and a skill matrix across three possible stages of self-assessment by a teacher of their use of learning technologies with students following the completion by teachers of a usage survey. He state that there was no mandatory system, but a 'strong' encouragement to schools to link curriculum renewal with technology implementation. The notion of capabilities included, but did not involve only, technical information technology competencies.
Ken Price from Tasmania outlined how their Department developed a broad set of teacher competencies starting with the accreditation technique from vocational education and a framework of functional analysis - what do you do as part of your role? The draft teacher competencies and intended outcomes were collated into modules, leading from operational skills with the technologies through to a focus on teaching and learning with the use of the technologies. It was not expected that the teacher competencies would be mandatory. (It is now understood that the Tasmanian project team has moved to emphasise more the teaching and learning competencies and intended outcomes with the use of information technologies, by stating that the module for technical IT competencies would be assumed and a pre-requisite to the teacher competencies portfolio.)
Carol Hughes described how Queensland developed a set of 'Minimum Standards for Teachers - in Information Technologies', as part of a 2001 project. The project analysed current 'best practice in the use of information technologies' across classrooms and concluded that effective classroom practices included: strong IT skills, the ability to apply their use in the classroom, a say in curriculum planning, and an emphasis upon student-centred learning. They then trialled a set of teacher IT standards, which could be assessed by schools. The Department negotiated these arrangements with the Queensland Teachers' Union through an enterprise agreement, as the teacher IT standards will be mandated.
The Way Forward
At the National conference participants and the ACCE Board discussed the part that teachers and state organisations might play in these developments. It was argued that we should ensure that a central focus continues to be on pedagogical issues, with the integration of IT across the curriculum and within all Key Learning Areas; otherwise the focus will be on IT competencies. And so the focus should be on effective classroom practice - and how to help teachers work towards changing their current practices, including greater use of technologies. Teachers should be encouraged to use information and communication technologies routinely as part of their work life through greater access to the technologies. It is crucial that teacher professional development should link, and not separate, the development of curriculum change and new practice, and the development of information technology skills.
ACCE will be developing a statement about learning technology competency initiatives that are occurring across the country. This statement will raise the issues that teachers are concerned about and seek endorsement from key groups about the significance of this independent statement. It is expected that the statement will support the work of teacher employing authorities and other teacher-centred groups who are developing and reviewing learning technology competency standards for teachers.
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Community Affairs Board Director Rathika Suresh rsuresh@pymblelc.nsw.edu.au