The BEST (Biomedical Education, Skills and Training) Network is a collaborative project between leading Australian universities and peak industry groups to conduct a National Deployment Trial under the NBN-Enabled Education and Skills Services Program. The network partners will combine their biomedical expertise, learning resources, and educational technologies to deliver their shared vision - a community of educators that uses the NBN to bring learning opportunities in biomedicine to all Australians.
The project seeks to provide a critical mass of world-class biomedical educational resources and a shared web-based IT infrastructure that is readily accessible to all stakeholders. Resources will be available at a granular level, or as packaged modules or courses for targeted audiences, and can be repackaged or personalised by an educator for their particular requirements. Educators can create their own content by using the resources of the Network and a feature-rich, online content authoring suite. They can share content with colleagues, collaborate with them in its development, and deliver it to students via the NBN. Our audience includes: secondary school and TAFE students; undergraduates in science, allied health, nursing and medicine; and postgraduates in medicine and nursing. In the same way that the NBN will provide equitable access to quality broadband for all Australians, the BEST Network will deliver quality online biomedical education.
The BEST Network initiative is being led by the University of NSW (Medicine), the University of Melbourne (Medicine and Health Sciences), the University of Queensland (Biomedical Sciences and Nursing and Midwifery) and James Cook University (Medicine). These universities are partnering with the peak industry bodies for nursing, pathology, and orthopaedic surgery. Supporting the BEST Network initiative is a pioneering educational technology company, Smart Sparrow, which is already working with these leading universities. The network includes a number of national deployment trial partners who will work with content providers to improve the offerings of the Network through trial participation and feedback.