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Find answers to common ESAF questions here. Have a question? Add it to the list! On this page… (hide)
QHow do I find my way around the site? QWhat is an architectural framework? An architectural framework is a set of specifications, standards and services. The framework will make it easier for systems in the education sector to inter-operate and exchange information, in a way that is private and secure. It will help educators to collaborate with others to improve learning, teaching and administration processes. It will help learners to connect to the people, places and things that they need, wherever they are. In this way, ICT will continue to help raise educational achievement and reduce disparity. QWhat does the framework cover? Because it’s about interoperability, it covers what happens “between the boundaries” — the space between educational institutions, the central education agencies, and other organizations. It’s about ensuring that systems can talk to each other, regardless of the hardware or software they use. It’s about ensuring learners can access digital information, wherever it is held. It’s about using open, non-proprietary, vendor-independent standards and choosing systems that are standards-compliant. Individual organizations are best placed to decide what happens within their own walls; the framework allows us to join with one another across those walls. QHow will it improve information access? The idea is that it will provide a set of shared services which everyone in the sector can take advantage of. For example, this could include: a “single sign-on” to all the sector information sources you are entitled to see; making the central agencies appear to the wider sector as if they are a single on-line agency — “reach one, reach all”; a centralized anti-virus, spam-filtering and internet safety service; an information brokerage for access to and distribution of digital resources; a “shared-service” integrated library system for schools. It’s up to the sector, through the development of the framework, to decide what’s most useful and what the priorities will be. The framework is about being smarter about things the sector is doing anyway. Everyone is grappling with the problems of efficient and effective information exchange — making sure we collect information once, and hold it in a form we can redistribute and reuse; working out how to design, assemble and use digital learning objects; providing wider access to the wealth of heritage material; reducing administrative compliance costs; and developing distributed learning communities. Given the size, diversity and fragmented nature of the education sector, there are many opportunities to use ICT to solve our common problems, as we move to a more networked, more collaborative environment for learners and educators. By working together to respond to these challenges, the sector will spend its scarce dollars more wisely. QHow is this related to eGovernment? The framework applies the objectives of eGovernment to the education sector: better service; cost-effectiveness and efficiency; leadership; greater participation by people; improved reputation for New Zealand. Across the sector, there is a desire for greater collaboration. Government sees opportunities to harness sector ICT to greater effect. It recognizes that ICT-related demands will keep increasing and that there is a growing level of interdependence between agencies. This means a commitment to ongoing development of new technologies, new software, new capabilities and new processes. It means harnessing the power of the internet to deliver information and services to support life-long learning. QHow is this related to the Education Portal? Setting up an education sector portal (http://www.education.govt.nz) is a high priority initiative arising from the State Services Commission’s review of education sector ICT. It will give one stop access to all education-related web resources and services in New Zealand. As such, it will depend on several of the parts that make up the architectural framework, such as standards for meta-data and the sector authentication service. It will also be the entry point for learners seeking access to information services that sector agencies build using the framework specifications and standards. QWhat is an Open Standard? Open means all the information required to implement the standard is freely available to everyone. Anyone can develop software based on the standard, without royalty payment and without seeking a third party’s consent, on any hardware or software platform. Open means that, in principle, software from competing companies can interoperate, without loss of information and without either party being able to dictate interoperability terms to the other. The opposite of an Open Standard is a proprietary standard. QWho is involved in developing the framework? The Ministry of Education and National Library are the co-sponsors of the work. The central education agencies — Career Services, Education Review Office, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, and Tertiary Education Commission — and the State Services Commission make up the Working Party?. The process will involve wide consultation and discussion with sector reference groups, with representatives from the early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary areas. QWhat is the future work programme? The Working Party has identified a number of candidate projects. Cross-functional teams from the central agencies will work collaboratively together to carry these out. Each project will have a lead agency accountable for bringing the work to a successful conclusion. How ESAF Works sets out the project governance structure. QWhat is eGovernment, eLearning, eInfrastructure …? See the Glossary. |
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