Facilitating design & technology education for distance education students in Australia (teaching audiographically)

The Learning Materials Production Centre (LMPC) is part of the Open Training and Education Network (OTEN) which is an organisation amalgamating Open Learning and Distance Learning facilities from the New South Wales Department of School Education and Technical And Further Education. The LMPC provides learning materials for students from Kindergarten to Year 12 who are studying by Distance Education. The study of Design and Technology (years 7-12) by Distance Education in NSW is via Distance Education Centres (DECs), Access Clusters and the Open High School. This paper focuses on the facilitating and teaching of Design and Technology via audiographics delivery. This mode of delivery is being implemented in rural areas throughout NSW. LMPC is closely involved with teachers on DECs and Access Programs who are engaged in mixed mode and flexible delivery. As the use of communications technology for education grows, teachers increasingly need assistance in preparing screen ready materials. Materials are being designed specifically to support the changing delivery modes, and consultation and trialing relationships have been established. As well as having an audio link with their teacher and other students via a Voicepoint or telephone and a document link, a visual link is provided around the use of a computer to provide an interactive "blackboard". The teacher and student are provided with a common "blackboard" with word processing and graphics facilities.