Achievements
Since 2001 The Le@rning Federation has developed a national asset comprising digital curriculum resources, intellectual property management and associated systems, standards, networks and distribution infrastructure.
Resources
We have developed more than than 9,000 digital curriculum resources to provide challenging and engaging digital learning experiences. The resources include interactive learning and assessment objects, and single-item resources such as audio files, videos and images with accompanying teachers' notes.
We also develop supporting resources for teachers, including:
- collections - selections of digital curriculum resources organised around popular topics in the curriculum;
- Teacher ideas - explanations of how teachers incorporate digital curriculum resources into learning programs, with links to the resources used in the lessons. Some Teacher ideas also include assessment objects, samples of student work and teacher developed resources;
- units of work.
Partnerships
We have worked with more than 25 cultural and scientific institutions, professional associations and other organisations to procure resources and enhance their use for educational purposes.
Copyright
The digital curriculum resources are free from further remuneration to collection agencies such as Copyright Agency Limited.
Systems, standards and processes
We have established and developed:
- mechanisms to enable educational jurisdictions and cultural and other organisations to share resources;
- interoperable industry and educational standards to ensure the digital curriculum resources can be used on computers and operating systems across Australia and New Zealand;
- specifications that not only optimise accessibility and technical performance but also ensure educational soundness and appropriate rights management;
- detailed quality assurance processes including evaluation by students and teachers, to guarantee the educational and technical standards;
- a strategy and software systems, the Exchange and CRISP, to support the management of intellectual property both by The Le@rning Federation and by educational jurisdictions;
- ScOT (the Schools Online Thesaurus) to facilitate discoverability of the digital curriculum resources;
- a portal, Scootle, to provide the digital curriculum resources to schools where access is otherwise difficult.
Research
We have conducted:
- research into using emerging technologies for teaching and learning;
- a longitudinal study on the use of The Le@rning Federation digital curriculum resources in schools in all Australian states and territories and in New Zealand, and produced five research reports based on the findings;
- investigations into the use of digital curriculum resources to engage and motivate Indigenous students in a range of educational settings.