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Labor keeps promise with Dickson College

By DANICA FELLOWS
FEDERAL Labor’s 2007 election promise of a computer to every student in year nine and above has been fulfilled at Dickson College.

Dickson College, though only catering for year 11 and 12, is one positive example of Labor’s promise of creating a Digital Education Revolution by giving every student from year nine up access to a computer.

“We now at my college have a computer for every student in a roll out… ,” Dickson Principal Beth Mitchell said. “We’ve got labs where students can book in and everyone can access a computer.”

Ms Mitchell said she had noticed the difference with the new technology; the students used it frequently and could co-ordinate with their own electronic devices making it much easier to work with.

“We’re able to offer them state of the art here, and they’re not just getting it from home if they’re affluent,” Ms Mitchell said.

However, the Digital Education Revolution hasn’t been a complete success.. The secretary of the ACT Branch of the Australian Education Union, Penny Gilmore, , says other schools have not got the new technology. Ms Gilmore said there had been supply difficulties.

The union and schools are also concerned about maintenance.

Ms Mitchell said, “So, it started off just using a smartboard and a data projector and things like that, and now there are other things that the students and the staff want, and want to update to, so it’s just constant.”

“One thing is having a computer lab but the computer labs need updating, computer labs break down, and we need technicians,” she said. “And students, much as our students are gorgeous and responsible young adults, still are hard on equipment, so there’s an ongoing cost that I anticipate could be quite substantial.”

Despite these costs, which have yet to receive funding allocation, Ms Mitchell is pleased so far with what the government has been doing. Hitherto, in her view, schools generally had been ignored. “In my 26 or 27 years . . . we have been receiving things from government more than we’ve ever, ever received.”

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