Boost to Innovation in ACT Public Schools

I am pleased to announce today the successful recipients of the first round of the Secondary Schooling Innovation Fund for 2011, as part of the Excellence and Enterprise Advancing Public Schools of Distinction framework.

The Innovation Fund was established to support schools and school networks in the ACT to collaborate and create innovative approaches to teaching and learning for our students.

Five projects will receive a total of almost $290,000 to build on innovative approaches to learning through new technologies, new programs and new collaborations. The projects will see collaborations across twenty ACT public primary schools, high schools and colleges and will commence during semester 1, 2012.

The projects include developing online and virtual learning opportunities for the study of mathematics, mechatronics, science, English, Studies of Society and Environment (SoSE) and languages. Projects will enable students to use new technologies to connect with those outside their school environment, allowing learning experiences which their parents may never have dreamed possible.

Five pilot initiatives have been successful in gaining support. They are: Gungahlin College SMART Program; Gungahlin Connected; Belconnen Connected; South/Weston Languages Hub; and Big Picture Academy, Tuggeranong.

As an example, the Belconnen Connected Initiative is a collaboration of five high schools to develop an online program for year 7 students in English and SoSE. The students will use iPads to connect with students and teachers in other high schools as well as with experts from a range of other educational organisations.Our students will be participating in a collaborative, virtual environment which will allow them to pursue an exciting range of areas of study and make informed decisions about furthering their own learning.

The Innovation Fund projects will facilitate more flexible learning approaches in the ACT to better meet the needs of our students. The Innovation Fund provides another example of ACT Government investment in innovation in public education, to ensure our students have the most relevant and contemporary learning experiences.