Ultranet Frequently Asked Questions

The Ultranet

What is the Ultranet?

The Ultranet is an online learning environment which will support high quality learning and teaching, and connect students, parents, teachers and school administrators, anywhere, anytime.

What is the focus of the Ultranet?

The Ultranet focuses on the key priorities of teaching and learning and a parent portal.

Why have an Ultranet?

The Government understands that to prepare students for the innovation and knowledge economy of the 21st century, schools must provide students with access to ICT environments that increase their participation, engagement and achievement in education. The education system faces irrelevance unless it recognises and minimises the gap between how students live and learn in the digital and multi-media world. Progressive and effective integration of ICT into education planning and delivery is needed.

Schools will be supported to achieve this goal through the implementation of the Ultranet.

The Ultranet is designed to:

• Enable parents to become full partners in their child’s education, giving them online access to their child’s homework, attendance, assessment, curriculum and teacher feedback at any time.
• Ensure that every child will have a complete record of achievement across all years of schooling.
• Give students their own online workspaces, personally tailored education programs, direct feedback from teachers and better access to curriculum.
• Enable students in remote schools to access specialised curriculum and podcast classes from schools that excel in various subject areas.
• Allow students to learn in an environment that will ensure that they have the cutting edge ICT skills they will need to in the 21st century workforce.
• Reduce the administrative burden for teachers and schools by using the Ultranet for recording attendance, school reports, timetabling and school events, to pool schools’ resources and give teachers access to a vast central database of classroom resources.

Will the Ultranet operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

The Ultranet will be available online anywhere, anytime.  The Ultranet will be available during and outside regular school hours, on weekends and school holidays.  Within this, there will be reasonable allowances for downtime to manage maintenance and other outages.

2009 Tender Outcome

Who is the successful tenderer?

CSG Services Pty Ltd has been appointed as the successful tenderer for the Ultranet project. CSG will work in partnership with the Department to deliver the Ultranet to every Victorian government school by the end of term three, 2010.

Timeframe

What are the timeframes for the project?

The Government is committed to the delivering the Ultranet to all Victorian government schools by the end of term three 2010.  

 

Implementation

How will implementation of the Ultranet be managed?

An implementation plan is being developed and will be finalised in conjunction with CSG Services Pty Ltd and in consultation with stakeholders.

Ultranet Coaches

How have coaches supported schools?

50 Ultranet coaches have supported schools to prepare for the Ultranet and build teachers’ ICT capacity in the classroom.  Ultranet Coaches have been working closely with school leadership teams to strengthen eLearning practices, in readiness for the Ultranet.  We know that people who are confident users of ICT will be more likely to embrace the Ultranet.

How long are the Ultranet Coaches funded for?

Funding was provided in the 2009-10 Budget, to continue the work of the Ultranet Coaches until December 2011.

Communications & Consultation

Who has the Department consulted with about the Ultranet?

The Ultranet has a wide range of stakeholders who are already engaged in the consultation process.  The Department has conducted thorough consultation with stakeholders about the impact that the Ultranet will have on their organisations and constituents.  The Ultranet team regularly meets with Ultranet Coaches, and we have set up advisory subcommittees for our stakeholders and school user groups.

What have these stakeholders had input into?

The Ultranet stakeholders have had input into a number of important elements of the project, including the scope of the Ultranet, and early planning for training, implementation, communications and school readiness.

What communications resources will be available to stakeholders?

Prior to implementation a communications toolkit will be provided for Principals to deliver key messages to their school community.  These communications will explain the Ultranet and set reasonable expectations for users.  Other resources being developed include a teacher handbook, parent handbook, parent brochure, and student handbook. 

Community Concerns

How many families have Internet access at home?

Research from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (2007) showed that about 90% of families have access to the Internet at home and that number is growing. The 2006 census data indicates that Internet access is lower in specific geographical areas.

As the Ultranet can be accessed anywhere via the Internet, families can use the Ultranet at libraries and other public places that provide access to the internet.

The Department will be working with schools on ways to engage parents through the Ultranet.

Will this disadvantage families and children who don't have Internet access at home?

It is beneficial for a parent to access the Ultranet, however those who can’t will still have access to every thing they need about their child via hard copy or talking to the school as is the case now.  Whilst the Ultranet project does not have the capacity to bridge the digital divide in family homes, it will help to bridge the digital divide between Victorian government schools, so that at school all students will have greater equality in accessing ICT. Teachers will be aware if their students do not have Internet access at home, and will adjust programs accordingly.

Privacy

How will private information be protected?

The Ultranet is subject to two privacy laws, the Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic) and the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic). Outsourced services provided to the Department by private operators are also subject to Victorian privacy laws.

Privacy impact assessments will be conducted throughout the project, to ensure that all reasonable measures are in place to protect the privacy of users.

Security

What security has been built into the system?

Extensive requirements have been built into the system, for example:

• security in Ultranet communications and operations management
• protection of Ultranet from malicious software (malware) such as computer viruses
• access control
• application level data validation
• data confidentiality
• disposal of back-up information
• compliance with Departmental ICT security policies