For CoSN
Jennifer Cummings
Fratelli Group
202.822.9491
jcummings@fratelli.com


For education.au limited
Gerry White
CEO, education.au limited
+61 8 8334 3203
+61 0412 362 211
gwhite@educationau.edu.au

Sydney, Australia (November 27, 2006) – Australian-based education.au limited and U.S.-based Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to share research and knowledge about powerful uses of education technology in learning environments. This agreement will build stronger ties between the U.S. and Australian education technology leaders, and gives policy makers, principals and teachers access to the latest research on digital classrooms in both countries.

The MOU was signed at the recent education.au’s Global Summit for online learning in Sydney. The first outcome of the agreement involves education.au sharing publications and professional development from CoSN by becoming its first publication distributor in the Asia Pacific region. Likewise, leaders from education.au will be participating in CoSN’s upcoming annual conference next March in San Francisco and sharing best practices for education technology from Australia.

Education.au is Australia’s leading Information and Communications Technology agency and a pioneer of online learning technology. CoSN is the premier U.S. professional association for K-12 education technology leaders who use technology strategically to ultimately improve teaching and learning.

Mr. Gerry White, who is shortly to retire after a decade as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of education.au limited said, “Australia needs to increase its use of online learning. The gap between those who are able to access technology and those who are not able to access technology is increasing, not decreasing. We have signed this agreement to provide Australia with access to in-depth information about the experience of American educators with online learning so that we can start to close the gap.”

Mr. Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN said, “The cooperation between CoSN and education.au has been a model of global collaboration for a number of years. It has been instrumental in the formation of an international network of heads of national agencies that share information about policy initiatives, ICT developments and implementation strategies, which have been extremely useful. This MOU will formalize our relationship and build on our strong foundation.”

The new MOU recognizes that education.au and CoSN have complementary roles in promoting and developing innovative learning technology for their respective education sectors. The MOU will strengthen international collaborations between Australia and the U.S. through activities, information sharing, technologies and emerging specifications. This agreement will facilitate joint research projects, access to significant research findings and learning content on a global scale. The recently announced joint U.S./Australian/UK project on calculating the Value of Investment of technology in education is an example of the benefit of this sort of global collaboration.

Participating in the signing of the agreement was Professor Emeritus James (Jim) Bosco, from Western Michigan University, who was instrumental in bringing to the two agencies together, and is co-chair of CoSN’s International Committee. Dr. Bosco commented, “While we hear a lot of rhetoric about a global learning community, too often that is just words. This agreement formalizes a true global partnership between two leading education technology organizations.”

About education.au ltd

education.au ltd is company limited by guarantee which is owned by the State, Territory and Commonwealth Ministers of Education and Training. It was established in 1993 to facilitate and coordinate collaboration in the use of education communications and related open learning techniques by providing appropriate education, technological and project management services to schools, vocational education and training (VET), higher education, industry and adult and community education sectors. education.au ltd is of strategic importance to this research project because it provides connections to key policy making groups across Australia and overseas, and provides international and national expertise to this area of work. As education.au ltd straddles schools, VET and higher education, there will be the capacity to transfer and apply this work to other education sectors.

About the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN)

The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) is the country’s premier voice in education technology leadership with a mission to serve as the national organization for K-12 technology leaders who use technology strategically to ultimately improve teaching and learning. CoSN provides products and services to support and nurture leadership development, advocacy, coalition building, and awareness of emerging technologies.

CoSN leadership initiatives include: Accessible Technologies for All Students (www.accessibletech4all.org); Cyber Security for the Digital District (www.securedistrict.org); Data-Driven Decision Making (www.3d2know.org); K-12 Open Technologies (www.k12opentech.org); Safeguarding the Wired Schoolhouse (www.safewiredschools.org); Taking Total Cost of Ownership to the Classroom (www.classroomtco.org); Value of Investment (www.edtechvoi.org); and the development of the Council of School District Chief Technology Officers (CTO Council).

CoSN’s membership includes a unique blend of education and technology leaders, policy makers, and influencers from the public and private sectors. Our audience includes key technology leaders (often called Chief Technology Officers—CTOs) in leading-edge states and districts, policy makers, private sector leaders, as well as those technology leaders who wish to accelerate their districts’ or states’ systemic technology use. Visit www.cosn.org or phone 866.267.8747 to find out more about CoSN’s programs and activities supporting leadership development to ensure that information technology has a direct and positive impact on student learning in elementary and secondary schools.