Local technical readiness NAPLAN Online survey

Transcription

1 GE00/0167 GE14/ January 2014 CIRCULAR TO PRINCIPALS OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS IN VICTORIA Local technical readiness NAPLAN Online survey MAIN POINTS The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has undertaken to prepare advice for federal, state and territory education ministers on the technical readiness of schools to deliver the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) via computers, at a date to be endorsed by the ministers. Some potential benefits of computer-based NAPLAN testing are: o the ability to tailor tests to students abilities, enabling more detailed assessment for individual students o quicker delivery of NAPLAN results to schools and parents o more flexibility in scheduling test delivery. To assist in developing advice for ministers and planning for the transition from pen-and-paper to computer-based NAPLAN testing, ACARA is surveying schools about their technical capability and capacity. Following completion of the Local technical readiness NAPLAN Online survey in early 2014, ACARA will work with Education Services Australia Ltd and other bodies to publish a technology profile to guide school planning and preparation for NAPLAN Online. Participation will maximise ACARA s opportunity to take into account the technical capability and capacity of all schools. CRITICAL DATES The survey will close on 28 February 2014 but the earliest possible response is encouraged. ACTIONS REQUIRED Schools are encouraged to complete the Local technical readiness NAPLAN Online survey via The survey should be completed by the person who has most detailed knowledge of the school s technical capability and capacity, and should take approximately 20 minutes to complete. The survey should be answered only once per school. A copy of the survey questions is attached (note: for question 43, School Bandwidth in 2015 is expected to be double that provided in 2013). ADDITIONAL INFORMATION personal information will be collected and response data will not be reported at school level. Any comments you provide may be included in reports to various stakeholders and the public to illustrate trends or patterns in responses, and will not be attributed to you or your school. 1 of 2

2 CECV: NAPLAN Online Survey 31 January 2014 If necessary for planning and/or implementation of transition to NAPLAN Online, ACARA may share school level response data with service delivery partners, and only for those purposes. Data will only be attributed to individual schools where necessary. CONTACT/ENQUIRIES Should you have any questions regarding the survey, please contact ACARA via at Any questions relating to your CNA link can be directed to the IT Helpdesk on or via Stephen Elder EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Attach. 2 of 2

3 Local technical readiness NAPLAN Online (Questions may appear in a different layout online, due to branching rules.) Thank you for accessing the survey Local technical readiness NAPLAN Online. The information you provide through this survey to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is valuable, and will be used to help plan for the transition from pen-and-paper to online NAPLAN tests, at a date to be endorsed by the education ministers. The information will also be used by ACARA, Education Services Australia Ltd and other partner organisations to develop a technology profile to guide school planning and preparation for NAPLAN Online. No personal information is sought and no data will be reported at school level. Any comments you provide may be included in reports to various stakeholders and the public to illustrate trends or patterns in responses, and will not be attributed to you or your school. If necessary for planning and/or implementation of transition to NAPLAN Online, ACARA may share school level response data with service delivery partners, and only for those purposes. Data will only be attributed to individual schools where necessary. The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. It should be completed only once per school, by the person with the best knowledge of your school's technical capability and capacity. For help completing this survey, info@acara.edu.au. 1. School name 2. School postcode 3. Select the state/territory where your school is located: ACT NSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA 4. Select the applicable school sector: Catholic Government Independent 5. School classification (based on nationally agreed categories): Metropolitan (population 100,000+) Provincial (population 25, ,000 and areas with CD ARIA index value up to 5.92) Remote (areas with CD ARIA index value greater than 5.92) Don't know 1 of 5

4 6. Number of Year 3 NAPLAN students in your school 7. Number of Year 5 NAPLAN students in your school 8. Number of Year 7 NAPLAN students in your school 9. Number of Year 9 NAPLAN students in your school 10. Please indicate which non-tablet computer devices would be used by students if they undertook an online assessment at your school today check all that apply: non-tablet devices Microsoft Windows PC Microsoft Windows laptop Apple Macintosh PC Apple Macintosh laptop 11. Would some or all of your students use tablet devices if an online assessment was conducted at your school today? (please indicate which tablet devices would be used by students if they undertook an online assessment at your school today check all that apply): o Apple ipad tablet (Generation 2 or later) o Android compatible tablet o Windows tablet o o Other (Please specify) Do all the tablets referred to above have external keyboards? Note: Doing the tests on tablets will require external keyboards to maximise the use of screen space. 12. Please indicate which operating system/s would likely be used by students if they undertook an online assessment at your school today (check all that apply): Microsoft Windows XP SP3 Microsoft Windows Vista, 7 or later Apple OS X 10.5 or later ios 5 or 6 ios 7 or later Android 4.0 or later 13. Please indicate which browser would likely be used by students if they undertook an online assessment at your school today (check all that apply): Internet Explorer 7.x Internet Explorer 8.0 or later Firefox 3.6 or later Safari 4.0 or later Google Chrome 25 or later 14. Is Adobe Reader 5 (or later) installed on the devices used by students? 2 of 5

5 15. Please provide any comments on the above (optional). 16. Which screen resolution is being used on the devices used by students? (Check all that apply) Less than 1024 x x x 1024 Greater than 1280 x How many devices are available for students to use? 18. What is the current ratio of test takers to devices in your school? (Enter the number of students per device (e.g. if you have 100 devices and 1,000 students, you have 10 students per device, therefore you should enter the response 10 ). 19. On average, how many devices can be located in a single room? 20. On how many devices could your school's internet connection be utilised at any one time? 21. Please indicate the number of devices which can be connected to the internet before noticeable performance degradation occurs. 22. Are there sufficient power points to allow all devices that require power point connection to be connected at once? 23. Please provide any comments on the above (optional). 24. Under normal conditions, would you expect there to be continuous power supply available to devices during the tests? 25. Bearing in mind the number of devices that can be in use online at your school at any one time, do you have enough headsets for each device that could be in use at any one time? 26. Please provide any comments on the above (optional). 27. Are there firewall restrictions at school network level that would prevent students from accessing an externally hosted online test? o Please provide details of these restrictions. Uncertain 28. Are staff (teaching or non-teaching staff) available (whether on or off-site) to provide technical IT support to students and teachers (for example, to change browser settings)? o Are technical support staff on site? 3 of 5

6 o What is the expected response time for off-site technical staff to arrive at the school if you call them? What is the employment status of technical support staff? Full-time Part-time Casual 29. What Student Administration system (and version) is in use in your school? 30. For device purchases over the next two years, which class of devices are you planning to purchase? (Check all that apply.) device purchases planned over the next two years Microsoft Windows PC Microsoft Windows laptop Apple Macintosh PC Apple Macintosh laptop Apple ipad tablet (Generation 2 or later) Android compatible tablet Windows tablet 31. Has your school implemented a BYOD (bring your own device) policy or do you intend to implement one within the next two years? already in place planned Undecided 32. Please provide any comments on the above. (Optional) 33. Do you expect to replace operating systems and/or browsers on or before they reach endof-life (i.e. are no longer supported by the software vendor)? 34. Please provide any comments on the above. (Optional) 35. Can JavaScript be enabled on every device if required? 36. Please provide any comments on the above. (Optional) 37. Are cookies permitted on devices used by students? 4 of 5

7 38. Please provide any comments on the above. (Optional) 39. Which type of internet connection is available to students? (Check all that apply) ne Dial up Cable ASDL 1 or 2 NBN fibre or other fibre connection ISDN Satellite (including NBN satellite) 3G/4G/NBN Wireless Core question 40. If you know the actual download speed of your school's internet connection in Mbps, enter it here: 41. Do you expect to upgrade your school s internet connection/s between now and 2015? 42. What will the new connection/s be? Don't know Cable ASDL 1 or 2 NBN fibre or other fibre connection Satellite (including NBN satellite) 3G/4G/NBN Wireless 43. What do you expect the download speed/s of the new connection/s to be? (Please indicate in Mbps or indicate Don't know. 5 of 5