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SuperClubsPlus Australia Launch
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On a hot spring morning on Tuesday 20 November 2007, Professor Stephen Heppell and Intuitive Media’s own Director, Professor Martyn Wild, attended the birth of SuperClubsPLUS Australia. Officiating was John Stanhope, CFO of Telstra, Adam Smith, CEO of The Education Foundation and Georgia Symmons, National Manager of Telstra Foundation. Also present was Professor Margaret Robertson, Associate Dean in the Faculty of Education and representing Intuitive Media Australia's new partners, La Trobe University.
John Stanhope in his role as Director of Telstra Foundation set the tone:
"I am not overstating it by saying we were ecstatic to learn that the organization behind SuperClubsPLUS in the UK, Intuitive Media was keen to run the programme here in Australia.
I am pleased to announce that the Telstra Foundation will provide 1 million dollars over two years to Latrobe University and Intuitive Media to help deliver the SuperClubsPLUS programme in Australia."
LEFT: The view of Melbourne from Telstra. It was only 8 am and yet temperatures were already at 28C. The blue sky and distant sea say it all really!
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The event was held at a breakfast, with an invited audience of some 80 people, representing children, education and governments across Australia. Professor Heppell, anointed by Microsoft in 2006 as ‘Europe’s Online Education Expert’ and by The Guardian in 2004 as ‘Europe’s online guru’, spoke passionately about the value of community, participative learning and the power of the learner voice - all characteristics of SuperClubsPLUS.
LEFT: Professor Stephen Heppell and Martyn Wild (right) prior to the start of the event. Ready to spread the word!
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Stephen is known to be a fan of Intuitive Media’s ground breaking work with online learning communities and is fully supportive of our work to bring Internet safety to young children. Stephen’s history with Intuitive Media goes back a long way of course, having worked together on Tesco SchoolNet 2000 (the biggest participative Internet project ever - way back in 2000 - entering both the Guinness Book of Records and the Millennium Dome in the same year).
Stephen made the point that many of our young SuperClubbers prefer to use their mobile devices to update their Home pages and to talk with friends on SuperClubsPLUS. Stephen here contrasts his first mobile phone, bought in the late 1980s with the DS Nintendo Lites and PSPs preferred by our children. Not really sure that Stephen's example really counts as 'mobile'!
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Over 80 people, many from universities, schools, government and Australian education departments the country over, elected to attend the birth of SuperClubsPLUS Australia. The announcement was held in one of the tallest buildings in Melbourne - the 'cultural capital' of Australia and home to some of the most forward thinking education bodies. No wonder we chose Melbourne as the Australian base for Intuitive Media!
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Stephen, with Melbourne as his back drop, talks about the evolution of ICT in education, and the importance of safe social learning communities in the lives of young children (in fact, very young judging from this slide!).
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Martyn Wild followed Stephen’s inspiring presentation, describing SuperClubsPLUS Australia as a ground breaking initiative that promises to change the lives of young children, their parents and their teachers, across Australia - the biggest island continent in the world.
LEFT: Martyn tells the story of SuperClubsPLUS through the eyes of Emily Sanderson (not her real name of course), a 10 year old girl who in many ways stands for so many of the 120,000 children that learn, have fun and make friends in this expansive social network.
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SuperClubsPLUS Australia is sponsored by Telstra Foundation - the charity funded by Testra, the largest provider of telecommunications in Australia - a forward-thinking company with a firm commitment to cybersafety.
Intuitive Media is planning to work closely with Telstra and La Trobe University to roll out SuperClubsPLUS to up to 40,000 children over 2 years, starting February 2008 - an initiative that will change the face of online learning across Australia.
Watch out Australia, the SuperClubbers have arrived!
Watch out SuperClubbers everywhere, the Australians have arrived!
LEFT: Martyn Wild is presented with a certificate marking the beginning of SuperClubsPLUS Australia by John Stanhope, Chief Financial Officer for Telstra.
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