Launch of Education Dept's site on World Wide Web

4/7/97

Western Australia's education system has gone global today, with the launch of the Education Department's new site on the World Wide Web.

At Mosman Park Primary School this morning, Education Minister Colin Barnett pressed a button to launch the department's new Internet site, part of a $38 million program to increase the use of communications technology in schools.

Mr Barnett said that as part of this initiative, all schools would be connected to the Internet, 23 schools would become technology focus schools, 5,000 more computers would be supplied, satellite dishes would be provided for country and remote schools and professional development provided for teachers. Mosman Park Primary School was connected as part of the project.

Anyone who connected into the site would be able to obtain information quickly about the Education Department, schools, policies and programs.

Mr Barnett said the site also allowed links to major educational and other databases around Australia and internationally including EdNA, the Education Network Australia, a combined project of all education sectors Australia-wide.

"As more and more schools in Western Australia design their own Internet sites, their home pages could also be linked," Mr Barnett said.

"Already, more than 90 per cent of our schools are connected to the Internet. Most of the remainder will be connected within the next six weeks.

"With interest in the World Wide Web growing every day, it is important that the Education Department sets a standard for schools by providing access to up-to-date information and resources."

To increase the ease of reaching information quickly, the site focuses on four key groups - parents, students, teachers and educational administrators.

Entry to the new Education Department site is through a single front page with windows to four sub-pages - Just for Students; Info for Parents; For Educators; and Admin People.

Information available to parents will include special programs for students, term dates, policy on behaviour management and uniforms, and resources to help children with studies.

Students will be able to find resource materials to help with projects, look at career options and scholarship opportunities, find out about other schools on the Internet and how to make contact with students around the world.

Teachers will be able to use the web site to access curriculum support materials, check examples of best practice in classroom teaching, seek resources on behaviour management and find hints and tips on designing web pages for their schools.

Principals and administrators will have quick access to policy documents, be able to link to specialised resources and make contact with professional organisations.

The Education Department's new web address is: http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au/index.html.

Media contact: Justine Whittome (08) 9222 9699