Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My contribution tonight is in relation to an article which appeared in the Adelaide Advertiser in early February   . It was entitled 'NBN lifts school grades'. As part of my duties on the NBN committee I had visited Willunga High School, which is approximately 47 kilometres from Adelaide. It was the NBN first-release site in South Australia in September 2011. Willunga High School was amongst the first mainland schools in the country to be connected to the NBN. In 2012 there were 660 students with 54 teaching staff and 32 non-teaching staff.    Willunga High School Principal Ms Janelle Reimann states in the Advertiser article that the NBN has helped to lift grades amongst students at the school. She is quoted in the article as saying, 'Students who used to hand in C-grade work are now producing A-grade work.' She went on to say, 'Improvement in grades has been reported by a number of teachers.' Unfortunately, this sort of news gets a couple of paragraphs on page 5 of the South Australian newspaper. I suppose good news does not always get the prominence it deserves. But this is a good news story which highlights just what benefits can come from an initiative like the NBN.

We are seeing this technology change the way that students are learning. The principal at this school has very strong beliefs about the positive benefits that the high-speed broadband brings not only to her school but also to the wider area. She believes that e-learning has transformed the way that students are learning at Willunga High: e-learning has broken down walls and has exposed the school to a greater range of learning options. I want to place on record my commendations and goodwill towards principals like Ms Reimann, teachers and the greater school community, who have driven this new approach to learning and who are accepting the change that this brings and delivering excellence in education.

Principal Reimann has conveyed to my office    that not only has the NBN opened up resources to teachers, but that programs such as Edmodo have helped encourage students to become more engaged in their learning. The article read:

This included the use of Edmodo, a social networking website for students and teachers.

Ms Reimann went on to say in the article:

What you can do , for example, is post a question and get the students to answer online …

In the classroom, you might get five kids answering but in some instances we were getting 197 responses to one question. Kids that don't normally have a voice in the class will post in that medium.

I think this is a really remarkable breakthrough. Ms Reimann also said in the article:

With much faster and more consistent services, we're able to bring in new ways to teach across the curriculum.

Not only has the NBN delivered high download speeds; it has also delivered high upload speeds. This has allowed students to interact in real time and to access alternative educational resources. Some examples included year 10 students being able to link with the John Monash Science School as well as students being exposed to high-level astrophysics. Drama students were able to interact with the Bell Shakespeare Company in Sydney, broadening their learning horizons. The interactive lessons also broadened teachers resources and broadened the students' overall learning. So the NBN has positively affected not only students' grades but also their attitude to learning. It has given them more confidence and broadened their learning generally.

The study that this article refers to is entitled 21st Century Teaching Strategies for a Highly Connected World, which took place from June 2012 to August 2012. Willunga High School, along with two other schools, was the focus of the study, and it also involved 60 teachers. Once the program was completed, the results from the program found that 86 per cent of teachers involved reported that services provided over the NBN were helping them to teach in much more powerful ways. Willunga High School was able to change the way that students were taught and the way that students were learning as a result of the NBN.

Ms Reimann also said in the report that the NBN had facilitated a revolutionary change in the delivery of content and co-contribution of learning input. It had given students an equal voice in what they want to learn and how they wish to learn it, bringing the world into their classroom. The report tells us that, over 10 weeks, teachers saw visible changes in their students and in their classrooms. The students' learning outcomes changed over this time as 21st century teaching strategies were being used to teach students of the 21st century.

The survey results found 96 per cent of teachers agreed that the NBN will increase their capacity for professional development and learning; 96 per cent also believed that the NBN will allow students to achieve more and that it will increase the quality of their work; and 86 per cent said the NBN will enable them to teach in much more powerful ways. These testimonials and the study and report are quite clear and unequivocal evidence, in my humble view, that the NBN is delivering on what it promised to do.

In the 21st century, broadband is as essential as electricity or water. It is basic infrastructure. Australian families rely on it and Australian businesses cannot do without it. If this is the Asian century then world-class broadband is a necessity and, without it, we will fall behind our global and regional competitors. We need the NBN to secure our economic future and also our educational future. The NBN will facilitate the high-skilled jobs of the future. It will mean Australians will be able to keep up and not fall behind. Most importantly, it will close the gap between the city and the bush.

The South Australian Primary Principals Association president, Steve Portlock, said that rural educators in particular were crying out for better internet connections to close that gap between the city and the bush. Australian homes, schools, hospitals and businesses will be connected to fibre with speeds of up to one gigabyte per second. This technology could also be upgraded extremely simply. The benefits for farmers, business, education and, in particular, health are endless.

But what do we hear from the other side? Willunga is currently in the seat of Kingston, represented by hardworking MP, Amanda Rishworth. The result of the South Australian redistribution has meant that Willunga will now be incorporated in the nearby seat of Mayo, whose member, Mr Briggs, has likened the NBN to 'driving a Ferrari in a 50 zone'. So, basically, Mr Briggs's attitude to the NBN is that it is too fast; no-one wants it; there are some people out there who might be able to use it. I find it extremely difficult to understand why the person who is going to represent the area in which Willunga school resides would not understand that this school of 660 students and 86 teaching and school staff are showing the way forward. They are using the NBN potential and driving the Ferrari in his 50 zone.

Senate adjourned at 22:27