On the 1st of October, Australia took one giant leap towards better broadband, as one of the world’s most-advanced communication satellites ‘Sky Muster’ blasted 36,000 km into space from the Guiana Space Centre in South America. The broadband satellite, which was built and launched by the company NBN, will be responsible for providing faster broadband access to Australia, especially within remote and rural areas.
“Australians in rural and remote areas which have traditionally struggled to access fast internet will have the opportunity to video-conference friends and family, study courses online and visit doctors from their lounge room,” the NBN CEO, Bill Morrow said at the launch.
While this advancement in communication will have significant impacts for Australians across the board, one of the biggest impacts will be in regards to the training and education industry. With Australians able to access broadband faster, it provides a greater opportunity for individuals to study online and engage in e-learning, especially those located in rural areas that can’t visit schools or training providers onsite.
Raelene Hall, from Neds Creek Station in central Western Australia who is outside the fibre/fixed wireless network within Australia’s main cities, said she has high hopes for the satellite improving the quality of education available to remote families.
“ When I was at the Isolated Children’s Parents Association (ICPA) Federal Conference in July, I heard some disheartening stories…they couldn’t access the internet, it was too slow and their children’s education was being impacted.
This rocket will be launched with all the hopes and aspirations of so many people out in the bush, that it is going to make a huge difference to their future and improve their job prospects,” she said.
According to the NBN, once Sky Muster and it’s twin satellite (scheduled for launch next year) has been implemented, the capacity to access broadband will extend to another 400,000 users.For RTOs, that’s the potential to offer online learning to another 400,000 customers.
The launch of the Sky Muster is a timely one, as the Edutech conference- which explores the new ways in which the education industry can utilise new technologies- was held in Brisbane four months ago.
Edutech is an annual event which aims to improve the quality of teaching and learning within Australasia and the Asia Pacific region, through using the latest learning technologies and methods. To achieve this, EduTech aims to bring together representatives of the entire learning life-cycle under one roof: schools, tertiary education, workplace learning, libraries and Vocational Education & Training.
This year’s conference had a particular focus on e-learning and explored the future of mobile learning in education, the ability for distance learners to study the human body and other scientific marvels via the use of online labs and new solutions to address educational institutions’ needs for mobile file access, synching and sharing. Politicians and the media have already dubbed EduTech and the platforms it’s introducing as ‘the future of education’ and now with the arrival of faster broadband access, these platforms can be implemented sooner rather than later.
It appears the time is ripe for educational institutions, particularly RTOs, to jump on the e-learning band wagon. Many registered training providers are already advertising the addition of e-learning packages to their RTO software and course offerings.
While the launch of the Sky Muster occurred this month, it is believed the satellite will not be operational until mid 2016 after a number of tests have been conducted to ensure its effectiveness. Until then, members of Australia’s remote and rural communities await eagerly for the learning opportunities soon to be at their fingertips.
To find out more about the Sky Muster Launch and it’s significance for Australia, click here: http://www.nbnco.com.au/blog/3-2-1-lift-off-for-the-sky-muster.html
To find out more about EduTech and the potential of e-learning for training providers click here: http://www.edutech.net.au/media.html