Jennifer Cummings
Fratelli Group
202.822.9491
jcummings@fratelli.com

Sydney, Australia (19 October 2006) – Today, a joint international research project involving Australia, the US and the UK has been launched in Sydney to coincide with the IT Global Summit 2006 at the Shangri-la in Sydney. The research project is investigating new ways to measure the value education technologies in schools in Australia, the UK and USA. Three structured case studies will be developed: one in a school or district in each country. The case studies will provide insights into the value of educational technologies in schools. The aim is to include both tangible and intangible assets in the measurements. The purpose of the research is not to reproduce what is already happening in each country but to leverage it and contribute to it. This study will be of benefit to policymakers and school leaders in the three countries, as it will provide an approach for informing data-driven decision-making processes concerning how best to provide up-to-date technology resources for school students.

This collaborative research project is an initiative of the following key government and non-government agencies and universities:

Australia

• University of Canberra
• education.au ltd
• Department of Education and Children’s Services (South Australia)
• Forrest Palmer Pty Ltd

US

• Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)

UK

• British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA)
• Department for Education and Skills (DfES)
• Learning Sciences Research Institute, University of Nottingham

“This is the first time internationally collaborative research of this nature has been undertaken in the schools sector. A key motive for this research is to develop better understandings about the conceptualization and measurement of the value of technologies in school education.” said Dr Kathryn Moyle, Associate Professor at the University of Canberra.

“Calculating and effectively communicating the value of investment (VOI) in education technology is central to CoSN’s mission, and we will continue to examine the issue for years to come. We are honored to be a part of this research initiative,” said Keith Krueger, CoSN CEO. “While we are on the frontier of this collaborative research, it is critical that policymakers understand that educators are serious about assessing the value of our technology investments in education.”

‘”The investment in technology has to date, been significant but we need to better understand its value for the learning experience, said Mr Gerry White, CEO, education.au. “education.au is delighted to be part of this innovative project.”

While the complex issue of valuation of tangible and intangible technologies assets in schools has not yet been researched, school leaders must regularly make financial, infrastructure and pedagogical judgments and accountability statements about the value of technologies in school education. Although the measurements of IT assets are built into the financial, regulatory and reporting requirements pertinent to the school sector the place of tangible and intangible technologies assets remains problematic. There appears to be gaps between the measurement and monitoring of outputs and evaluation of outcomes, and the processes of teaching and learning to meet the ongoing needs of society. This project is new research both in the nature of the topic and in the method to be used to conduct the research about the topic.

"The use of technology in education offers a range of educational benefits, but these are still being understood and are not studied systematically as often as they should be. We can learn a lot from each other's experience. I welcome this research as an essential project in furthering our understanding at a time when the use of technology is increasingly pervasive" said Vanessa Pittard, Director - Evidence and Evaluation, at the British Educational Communications and technology Agency.

“Having undertaken research into the Total Cost of Ownership of education technology in a number of South Australian schools we believe this research will be invaluable in assessing and identifying education technology’s competitive advantage in education in our state,” said Mr Ross Treadwell, Assistant Director, Learning Technologies, Department of Education and Children’s Services (South Australia).

For more information on the research project, visit www.groups.edna.edu.au/course/view.php?id=994. A brief profile and outline of the roles of each of the partners is attached.

Contact details
Further information is available from:
Associate Professor Kathryn Moyle
University of Canberra
Mobile: +61+419030952
Email: Kathryn.Moyle@canberra.edu.au

Associate Professor Kathryn Moyle from the School of Education and Community Studies at the University of Canberra is leading the research project in collaboration with the above agencies.