Role of the Australian Council for Computers in Education
The ACCE is the national professional body for those involved in the use of information and communications technology in education. This includes educators who teach computing / information technology subjects as well as all educators who strive to improve student learning outcomes through the powerful use of ICT.
ACCE strives to encourage and maintain a level of excellence in this field of endeavour throughout Australia. Each state and territory has an independent association (or Computers in Education Group – CEG) which advances the professional development of its members in the use of learning technologies in education.
The ACCE Board consists of representatives from the state and territory CEGs and the Australian Computer Society. It publishes the journal Australian Educational Computing and authorises the Australian Council for Computers in Education Conferences (ACCE). It is affiliated with the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) and the Technology Education Federation of Australia (TEFA).
The ninth member of ACCE is the Australian Computer Society (ACS), a professional body for the ICT industry. ACCE is funded via capitation fees from each of its member associations.
The ACCE Board consists of a representative from each of its nine members, an independent President and the Immediate Past President. The Board oversees the biennial conference, the Australian Council for Computers in Education Conference (ACCE) formerly known as the Australian Computers in Education Conference (ACEC) which is hosted on its behalf by one of the member associations. The 2006 event, ACEC2006 in Cairns attracted over 1,150 participants of which almost 200 were international delegates.
The ACCE Board has sought to advance the development of ICT in Australian education through cooperative and collaborative activity. It actively seeks to involve other organisations in its own work and offers to contribute the collective experience and expertise of its Board members and member associations to assist other bodies in educational ICT activities.
This collaborative activity is demonstrated in the hisotry of ACCEs significant contribution to the conduct and management of many national projects. These projects include:
The purposes of the association are to:
- establish and maintain a national professional association representing the users of learning technology in education in Australia.
- establish, maintain and provide a representative national voice for member associations.
- provide a common forum for member associations.
- cooperate and / or liaise with relevant organisations at local, state, national and international levels.
- faciliate and provide mechanisms for the dissemination of information in relation to learning technology.
- provide support for member associations.
- organise and conduct conferences, seminars and or other programs.
- organise and / or publish publications with a national focus.
- increase community awareness of learning technology.
Actions supporting these goals are:
- Development of the national journal Australian Educational Computing.
- Development of the national conference Australian Council for Computers in Education conference (ACCE) formerly known as the Australian Computers in Education Conference.
- Position statements on national issues.
- Participation in national strategic projects.
- Provision of internet based tools for CEGs to use.
The 8 state / territory member associations of ACCE are:
Information Technology Educators ACT
EdTechSA
EdTechSA
ECAWA
Educational Computing Association of Western Australia
DLTVic
Digital Learning and Teaching Victoria
ITEANT
Information Technology Educators Association of Northern Territory
ICTENSW
ICT Educators of NSW
QSITE
Queensland Society for Information Technology in Education
TASITE
Tasmanian Society for Information Technology in Education.