implementation options for language learning technology in preschools

Situation

The Australian government funded a significant pilot of an online application that allowed early childhood centres around Australia to expose children to language learning experiences. As the pilot drew to a conclusion, the government wanted to know what it would take to roll out the application successfully.

Approach

• We engaged people and departments across the childhood education sector to understand how the technology was being used.
• We collaborated with experts in early childhood pedagogy to clearly understand the benefits of similar technology.
• We engaged technology experts to identify the technology roadmap and identified demand within early childhood centres.
• We undertook detailed cost modelling across a range of implementation scenarios.

With a best practice perspective, we designed an implementation plan for a national roll out of the application.

Results

The final report equipped government to make decisions about the value of a range of scenarios. The Australian Government chose to pursue one of the scenarios which was reflected in a 2016 budget announcement and is due for implementation.