Alice Springs School Of The Air

Alice Springs School of the Air

Alice Springs School of the Air is one of two Schools of the Air in the Northern Territory provided by the Department of Education and Training, and was the first of its kind established in Australia.

The School traditionally offers a wide range of educational services and activities to isolated primary children in the Northern Territory, the extreme north of South Australia and the south-east of Western Australia.

There have been many significant changes in communications technology in recent years, many of which the Alice Springs School of the Air has sought to use.

The radio was the backbone of communication from the commencement of school operations in 1951 until 2004. With the development of other technologies the school now makes extensive use of Satellite Technology.

In the early 1990s many people in the Outback received upgraded telephone systems, enabling them to make direct and very clear telephone calls throughout Australia for the first time. For the School this has permitted more frequent and more satisfactory contact and follow up with students and supervisors.

As clear as the current system is it should be remembered that the technology supplying the telephone service is different to that found anywhere else in the world. The system effectively still uses microwaves and has never been capable of supporting and broadband type of connection.

It is a compulsory aged correspondence school that utilises various communications technologies to have daily contact with students, home tutors and teachers. The first radio broadcasts were made from the Royal Flying Doctor Base in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, in 1951 and the last from the Head Street premises in 2005.

The school runs its own ISP (Internet Service Provider). For those families that do have IDL they have the option of connecting to the school via their own computers and modem. 

This allows transfer of work, exchange of ideas and support of learning in a manner that is quicker than traditional mail services. The speed and reliability of such connections is still far from what people in major urban centres would experience.

Most families now have access to television. The school conducted trials of direct television lessons beamed into the classroom in 1992. This was via satellite transmission but costs prohibited this being an ongoing facility.

Alice Springs School of the Air Visitor Centre was set up as an initiative of the School Council to directly support the students of the largest classroom in the world. The funds raised assist with student enrichment programs such as interstate excursions, in town activities and provide funds for the purchase of expensive ICT equipment.

Live lessons may be viewed during the school’s teaching program (school days only) with the opportunity to become familiar with the radio used until 2005 when the final high-frequency radio lesson was conducted.

As much as the technology has progressed the thing of greatest importance to the school is its sence of community. The different technologies are one element in ensuring that all members of our school community experience a sence of belonging.

And isn't that what education is all about, folks?

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