NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre iSee – an immersive learning platform Colin Wood, Advisor, Innovation Policy and Performance

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre Melbourne Declaration Goal 1: Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence Goal 2: All young Australians become: – successful learners – confident and creative individuals – active and informed citizens

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre A Commitment to Action – improving educational outcomes “Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, those from remote areas, refugees, homeless young people, and students with disabilities often experience educational disadvantage. Targeted support can help disadvantaged young Australians to achieve better educational outcomes. Australian governments must support all young Australians to achieve not only equality of opportunity but also more equitable outcomes.”

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre Close the gap between metropolitan and remote Prior-to- school Primary SchoolSecondary School AEDI Developmentally vulnerable in one or more domains Metropolitan 22% Remote and very remote 36% NAPLAN Year 5 - % At or above minimum standard Reading Metro 93% Remote 79% Very remote 47% Numeracy Metro 95% Remote 83% Very remote 52% NAPLAN Year 7 - % At or above minimum standard Reading Metro 96% Remote 88% Very remote 58% Numeracy Metro 96% Remote 88% Very remote 61% NAPLAN Year 9 - % At or above minimum standard Reading Metro 92% Remote 79% Very remote 45% Numeracy Metro 94% Remote 83% Very remote 52% NAPLAN Year 3 - % At or above minimum standard Reading Metro 95% Remote 85% Very remote 59% Numeracy Metro 95% Remote 89% Very remote 60%

Some of the biggest AEDI gaps are in the language and cognitive skills areas Source: Australian Early Development Index, A Snapshot of Early Childhood Development in Australia 2009 (2011 reissue). Proportion of children 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% Metropolitan Inner regionalOuter regionalRemote/very remote 8% 10% 12% 21% Students whose score is in the bottom 10 per cent in the AEDI index - language and cognitive skills

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre If the ‘Gap’ was closed in PISA results, Australia would rise in the rankings Source ACER (2011), Challenges for Australian Education: Results from PISA 2009, online statistical tables

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre Schools in regional and remote locations can experience a shortage of qualified teachers in key subject areas Proportion of school students whose principal stated that teacher shortages hindered instruction to some extent or a lot Sources: 2009 PISA survey, Australian dataset, School survey. Science, ICT and Mathematics Education in Rural and Regional Australia: The SiMERR National Survey, 2006, DEEWR website A survey of teachers identified the extent of staffing difficulties in rural and remote schools: A high turn-over of teachers in provincial areas (twice that for city schools) remote areas (six times that for city schools). Difficulties filling secondary science, ICT and maths positions: twice as hard in provincial Australia four times more difficult in remote areas.

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre Increase opportunity to study Asian languages “Giving young Australians the opportunity to develop their language skills and learn about other cultures will support the development of Australia’s cultural, social and economic future in what we know is the Asian Century.” Hon Peter Garrett MP 28 September 2011 “Discussing education's role in NSW's engagement with Asian economies, Mr O'Farrell said the system must focus more on teaching Asian culture and languages such as Chinese.” Sydney Morning Herald 7 November 2011

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre iSee – key business drivers  Delivering improved learning outcomes for students in regional and remote NSW schools  Support for small candidature classes in primary and secondary schools  Demonstrate capacity to address teacher shortages in specialist curriculum areas, especially mathematics, science and language areas  Support local, national and international student and teacher collaboration  New channels for delivering intervention support for under- performing students

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre How are immersive environments different to other online collaboration technologies?  ‘crowd’ or multi-point to multi-point communication  very detailed analytics as every action is an event that can be logged and analysed.  deliver intelligent bandwidth use – you only receive data for the objects you can see and hear.  deliver equity of access and do not require expensive dedicated hardware such as video conference cameras.  creates a canvas to connect learners rather than conduit to deliver content.  Supports active collaboration rather than collaboration by consumption

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre Immersive learning environments integrated into a classroom they have the potential to provide:  an innovative learning environment that can transform educational practices.  opportunities for students to interact with others across time and space  Solutions for ‘mainstream’ and ‘individual’ intervention issues- Small candidature classes Teacher shortages National and international collaboration 21stC learning intervention support for non-performing students

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre Smart Services CRC and iSee - progress The partnership with Smart Services CRC has allowed the NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre to work with researchers at Wollongong University and the Smart Services CRC foundry in Eveleigh to shape the iSee technology into an immersive learning platform for education. Trialled iSee in August 2010 as a ‘one-off’ educational showcase event when we connected Senator Conroy in Hobart with four students in Kellyville PS and demonstrated live multipoint to multipoint communication

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre Proposed 2012 trials in New England and North Coast Regions Department funded and NBN-Enabled Education and Skills Services Program submissions –  Literacy Outreach service using volunteers in NBN homes  Immersive Connected Classes for stage 6 students affected by small candidature size or lack of specialist teachers Mandarin – specialist teacher shortage Stage 6 Mathematics – small candidature classes