R&D grant to Hearne Scientific Software
30 March, 2002
R&D grant to Hearne Scientific Software
Hearne Scientific Software - a small business with an established presence in the web and software domains - has been awarded a Department of Industry, Science and Resources grant for research and development of online learning technology.
In a joint project with Professor Leon Sterling of The University of Melbourne, Hearne is to develop a stable, technologically advanced site through which third parties can deliver educational material. A number of institutions have already expressed interest in such a site.
"A key assumption we've made in the initial stages is that if we're going to be successful, we need to consider traditional online teaching paradigms and then look beyond them for something different," reports James Hearne, Managing Director of Hearne Scientific Software.
The focus of development efforts will be on methods of ensuring meaningful communication between students and teachers and between students themselves. Harnessing the unique benefits of an online delivery channel is also a fundamental goal of the R&D team. For example, conventional courses rely on a campus library to provide teaching resources whereas an online course has easy access to an extensive repository of internet material.
A site such as this has other advantages. According to Professor Sterling, The costs of developing a functional site are significant. The new site will spread costs across all the participants which will allow smaller institutions to compete with those who can afford to develop their own custom solutions."
The market for online education is vast. Australia is well placed to tap into a growing Asian market where the cost of internet access is falling and demand for Australian courses is high. With this new grant for developing online learning technology, Hearne Scientific Software is providing a means by which Australian educational institutions can target this market as well as giving them a low cost means of entering the Australian market for online education.