14 Jun 2017 Swan Hill Guardian, Swan Hill VIC (General News) by Jade Bate A GROUP of schools in the Swan Hill municipality will receive better access to digital education from the Victorian 2017/2018 state budget. Schools such as Swan Hill Specialist School, Beverford District Primary School, Woorinen District Primary School and Nyah District Primary School will receive a share of a $16.4 million investment to improve connectivity for students in regional and rural areas. Specialist School principal Jodi Walters said the funding would provide a major boost to her students learning abilities. We have received a grant for seven wireless points and cabling around the school, Ms Walters said. This will mean faster and more reliable access to the internet for our students. Ms Walters said the faster internet access would make a difference to the connectivity of the schools laptops, interactive whiteboards, TVs and tablet devices. We often also link to other schools and this will make that easier, she said. With technology being a crucial part to modern school life, Ms Walters said it was important to have access to the most recent updates. With less waiting time, it will mean our students will have immediate access to learning tools, which is very important especially for our school, she said. Currently the internet is a bit patchy, so we are delighted to have this funding. Any increase in speed improves learning in regional and rural schools. Northern Victoria upper house member Jaclyn Symes said the funding would allow country schools faster and more reliable access to online teaching and learning resources. We are doubling the bandwidth provision to 160 schools in Northern Victoria to make sure all students can access a first rate digital education regardless of where they live, Ms Symes said. We are investing in schools because we want local students to have the standard of digital education as metropolitan schools. No student in Northern Victoria should miss out on learning the skills they will need for the jobs of the future. LOCAL SCHOOLS THAT WILL RECEIVE A SHARE OF THE FUNDING Lake Charm Primary School Manangatang P-12 College Nullawil Primary School Nyah District Primary School Swan Hill Specialist School Ultima Primary School Woorinen District Primary School Wycheproof P-12 College Caption Text: Red Room teacher Riley Corrie uses interactive whiteboards to help students like Justin Pay and Rhys Alessandrino engage in class. Licensed by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence.