For those of you who read our Flying Doctor Service post.
The Doctor Service introduced the radio to isolated areas, so they could be called to medical emergencies.
That also meant that the people in remote areas could chat with their neighbours.
The early radios were pedal powered.
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| Only in the 1930s-40s would anyone dress up to talk on the radio...BOL! |
In 1956, children who had been receiving correspondence lessons through School in the Mail--a slow, unreliable source, could
receive lessons using the radio. For the first time, they were
able to speak to their teachers and hear their classmates.
Correspondence lessons were still sent out from
the major cities,
the major cities,
but School of the Air became more user-friendly.
Through the years there was an evolution to improve
service delivery.
service delivery.
Today, there are five Schools of Distance Education in New South Wales. They are, and have always been Public schools.
(Not the same as home schooling)
(Not the same as home schooling)
We have one of those facilities.
It has about 450 students, who due to isolation, illness, disability, religion or other reasons, can't access regular schools, or high school students needing subjects not taught at their local school.
The teachers have classes of children pre-school to year 12.
Work and resources still arrive through the mail, but with computers, phones and other technology access to teachers is easier.
There are schedules when teachers are broadcasting, so the children are in a virtual classroom and can ask questions.
Activities are organised, such as a week's residence in town to meet their teachers and classmates joining in Athletics carnivals, STEM subjects or other activities. There are usually 'camps' during the year so the students can catch up with each other, as well.
All children are encouraged to drop by any time they may be in town.
SHE thinks for those days teachers experience in the classroom, a school with no students would be the way to go!
The teachers have classes of children pre-school to year 12.
Work and resources still arrive through the mail, but with computers, phones and other technology access to teachers is easier.
There are schedules when teachers are broadcasting, so the children are in a virtual classroom and can ask questions.
Activities are organised, such as a week's residence in town to meet their teachers and classmates joining in Athletics carnivals, STEM subjects or other activities. There are usually 'camps' during the year so the students can catch up with each other, as well.
All children are encouraged to drop by any time they may be in town.
SHE thinks for those days teachers experience in the classroom, a school with no students would be the way to go!
that is great to learn how people managed their life without internet and tech-stuff... I like the idea of a pedal radio, the mama said she knows who would be condemned to pedal along for muzak and news ...
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool way to educate! There are parts of Canada that would benefit from this.
ReplyDelete"A school with no students would be the way to go" ~ how sad to not be able to see a child's face light up when they finally get the answer. We read your Flying Doctors post, here we see helicopters fly over taking interstate accident people to the hospitals. We see the hospital logo on the side. Lee says she will try the seven and two blocks for she has a pain in nine maybe that would work for her kidney stone.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a friend
Sweet William The Scot
That's interesting to think about. Though our little human is a social butterfly and I don't think she would enjoy school half as much without all her friends around.
ReplyDeleteOh my word...we had no idea the early radios had pedal power.
ReplyDeleteI bet 87 dollars that is where the Modern day recumbent bike got its idea. This was a most interesting post about life DownUnder
Hugs madi your bfff
No students, no paycheck.
ReplyDeleteWell that is really cool. stella rose
ReplyDeleteThat is incredible! What a difference the internet has made. People today can hardly imagine learning this way. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteTechnology has made so many wonderful things possible. Mom was a former teacher and she agrees there were those days when she wished the kids were online and not in front of her:)
ReplyDeleteWoos - Lightning, Misty, and Timber
As a former teacher's assistant in the US our Mom agrees 100 percent
ReplyDeleteWe love these educational posts! Dressing up to talk on the radio ☺
ReplyDeleteSome definite benefits to having an empty classroom. We heard about this before and think there would be some good benefits as long as the parents place importance on education!
ReplyDeleteYour Pals,
Murphy & Stanley
How very interesting!
ReplyDeletehugs
Hazel & Mabel
What an interesting post. A history lesson and a lesson on what life in the Australian Outback is like today for school children.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I read about the schools there and how students got their lessons by radio and phone. It sounded great to me. Now it must be much easier. Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteVery cool!!! Brudder does da virtual public high school here in da U.S. so he can dual enroll in college. It's a win win fur me cause we gets to see brudder more ;)
ReplyDeletexoxo,
Matt & Matilda