DiData Australia wins over schoolgirls with Cisco

Dimension Data Australia has deployed Cisco collaboration solutions for Melbourne's Camberwell Girls Grammar School, in a deal worth $1.1 million.

The solutions provider also installed LAN, wi-fi, switching and routing infrastructure, but it is the collaboration tools – such as WebEx, Show and Share and video conferencing – that have taken centre stage among the 800 pupils.

"We've had students speak face-to-face with archaeologists from digs in Turkey, witness science experiments too dangerous to hold in the school and hear from divers researching the Great Barrier Reef," said Camberwell principal Debbie Dunwoody.

"It’s been an incredibly exciting time – we’ve been all throughout Australia and all around the world in such a short space of time."

Dunwoody said that the school, located in Melbourne's east, spent $1.1 million on technology and professional services to prepare its girls for a technology-driven workforce.

"The rationale was all about educating tomorrow’s woman," she said. "We know we’re going through a time of rapid change in the world where if we want our students to thrive, we need to teach them the 21st century skills of creativity, collaboration and innovation."

Dimension Data Australia communications business general manager Michael Slip said that the "full range" of Cisco technologies had been deployed and that Camberwell had "redefined their entire approach to teaching".

Camberwell Girls Grammar year nine student Leah Atalalis said that the technology-based learning was "really exciting".

"It’s engaging because we’re not just learning by reading from a textbook, or through Google or from listening to our teacher. We're connecting with, and learning directly from the source," she said. "These kinds of lessons really seem to set off a spark that makes me want to contribute to the lesson to learn more, and the information seems to sink in better."

The school's head of digital Kim Perkins said that the Dimension Data project had also made the 100 teachers and staff more productive.

"Far and away though, the best benefit has been the possibilities this collaboration technology has opened up for the students. The students can use the collaboration tools on their own devices in the classroom and the enthusiasm it generates among them makes this the most exciting period of my teaching career."

Camberwell Girls Grammar, established in 1920, is an Anglican school in Canterbury in eastern Melbourne. The news of Dimension Data's work follows Datacom's wi-fi deployment at a Perth Anglican school, All Saints' College, using Ruckus technology.