Case Study: Education - teacher retention

In August 2010, Circular Head Christian School became the first Australian school to be connected to the National Broadband Network (NBN) and the school's Principal, Patrick Bakes, couldn't be more delighted.

Based in Smithton, north-western Tasmania, the school of 385 children from kindergarten to year 12 had built a strong reputation for the quality of its Vocational Education Training(VET) stream as well as standard academic subjects.

In recent years though, Circular Head had found it increasingly difficult to attract and retain the number and breadth of teachers required to deliver VET subjects.

"While this part of Tasmania is absolutely stunning and our small school is a critical part of the community," Patrick explains, "for many teachers the combination of small and rural conjures up concerns about a lack of resources and a perception of isolation."

The challenge of attracting staff meant more and more VET and academic classes were in danger of being dropped from the curriculum and study options were narrowing.

When the NBN arrived, Patrick immediately identified the opportunity to overcome that challenge. Face-to-face teaching could be supplemented with high-definition video conferencing and access to subject matter experts and teachers in other states and territories across Australia.

"Our little school might not have been able to deliver all the subjects our year 11 and 12 students wanted onsite, but we could link to another school that would effectively let us into their classroom," Patrick said. Circular Head had already begun the process of investing in laptops and other technology to support this connection with the result that every student from year 9 to 12 now has a laptop and a bank of 60 more are available for other classes.

Before Circular Head was connected to the NBN, Patrick says staff viewed the internet as a research tool only - an extension of traditional encyclopedias as opposed to an intrinsic part of the classroom.

"On our previous internet connection, students would have to sit and wait for ages for content to download. Because the online experience was so frustrating, teachers were often reluctant to use the internet in the classroom."

The benefits of being connected to the NBN are reverberating through the school and teachers are being encouraged to actively explore new ways to use internet based learning in the classroom.

"We are finding that students are engaged, they can move from one task to another much more quickly, they can access a range of media when they are researching, they can get onto the latest maps, instead of having to use an atlas which is five years old," Patrick said.

"It's exciting that the NBN is fast - yes. But most important to us is that it has enabled us to offer our students access to the kind of technology and subjects that their metropolitan classmates can access without question."

"It's made teaching a much more effective and rewarding process. Staff use laptops and other technology on a day-to-day basis which ultimately means we're getting return on that investment."

Cost savings of more than $200 per month have been realised for Circular Head, not only through reduced internet costs but also in teaching resources.

"If we were to buy one class a set of 25 dictionaries to use it would be quite expensive. Multiply that by all our classes across the school and you're looking at a significant investment. Encouraging students to use laptops with real-time access to the most up-to-date information and
resources is quite cost effective."

Making calls via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is also saving time and money for the school.

"Before the NBN, the service was jittery and calls would drop out," Patrick said. "Now we have the ability to make multiple calls simultaneously, and I haven't yet received a complaint about quality or reaching the service's limit."

Bandwidth has dramatically improved since connecting to the NBN. Patrick says the network can now support up to 150 students online simultaneously.

"The students are delighted. Years 11 and 12 decided to see if they could push the NBN connection to its limits and all 35 logged onto the same movie clip on YouTube simultaneously."

"This would have ground our previous ADSL connection to a halt. The NBN connection did not falter - it just happened and it worked and nothing went wrong," Patrick laughs.

In the coming months, Patrick sees the opportunity for students and staff at Circular Head to conduct a high definition video conference call with researchers in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, watch the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra rehearse in real-time and share learnings and experiences via videos uploaded from their annual excursion to Fiji - all of which map directly to the expanded VET and academic curriculum.

Company/Individual: Circular Head Christian School, Patrick Bakes

Location: Smithton, Tasmania

RSP: Internode

Website: www.chcs.tas.edu.au

Case Study Type: Education

Challenge:

• Restricted use of ICT in classrooms
• Teacher retention
• Reduced levels of course availability
• Limited capacity to access bandwidth intensive content

Solution:

• Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) via the NBN

Result:

• Increased job satisfaction for teachers
• More engaged students
• Simultaneous use of video rich internet sites by students
• Ability to conduct international video exchanges
• Cost savings of more than $200 per month on internet costs and teaching resources