Returned & Services Le ANZAC House, Torrens T Victoria Drive, Adelaide S Telephone: 08 8100 730 www.rslsa.org.au Major funding injection for RSL Virtual War Memorial The RSL’s biggest ‘Centenary of ANZAC’ project is about to get bigger still. The Virtual War Memorial – the online memorial that can be seen by anyone, anywhere – is receiving a major funding injection in a strategy aimed at increasing its education outreach. The memorial’s potential audience will grow spectacularly from tomorrow (Tuesday, June 2) when Premier Jay Weatherill announces a four-year $780,000 SA Government support project. The money will fund a learning partnership between the SA Education Department and the RSL. “This funding will allow students to contribute to the site in a way that’s linked to their studies – especially in fields of curricula like History, and Civics and Citizenship,” Mr Weatherill said. “For instance, they’ll be able to research topics, write material and load it on to the site for all to see. Their school can establish its own ‘page’ on the site and – just as an example – publish profiles of former students of the school who lost their lives in battle. “This work will be properly structured and moderated, and it will be supervised by a nominated teacher in each student group. Besides supporting the website itself, the funding will also pay for a part-time teacher who will visit schools and help students use the Virtual War Memorial. “This new program allows secondary students to study Australia’s involvement in every major international conflict – from the Boer War, before we were even a nation, right up to the present day.” Developed by the RSL’s South Australian and Northern Territory branch, the Virtual War Memorial website has ‘personalised’, through an ever-growing collection of online biographies and records, the names inscribed on conventional memorials. This ground-breaking project has four key objectives: Education: a web-based resource and repository for schools studying Australia’s involvement in conflict from the Boer War to the present day. Commemoration: linking with physical memorials and perpetuating forever the stories contained by them. Community engagement: the capacity to reach into all communities, adding a life story to the names at present inscribed in bronze, slate, and stone. Accessibility: the technology enables users to interact with the site anytime and anywhere – in a classroom or a library, at a graveside or on a battlefield pilgrimage. The Virtual War Memorial supplies links to other sources, building rich and informative character studies that can be read online. It also offers the opportunity for Australians everywhere to tell their family histories of military service. In just eight months of operation, it has already listed 500,000 records on its supporting database – and, on ANZAC Day this year, attracted 18,000 hits. Returned & Services League of Australia (SA Branch) Inc ANZAC House, Torrens Training Depot, Victoria Drive, Adelaide South Australia 5000 Telephone 08 8100 7300 Email [email protected] www.rslsa.org.au The project is headed by the RSL (SA/NT) deputy president, Colonel Steve Larkins. “The RSL Virtual War Memorial is at the leading edge of communication – a great example of South Australian creativity, innovation and determination,” he says. “Now we have a wonderful opportunity to engage and educate younger generations with this resource, and the integration of the site into the school curriculum will soon be a reality.” As Brigadier Tim Hanna, RSL (SA/NT) president, puts it: “This commitment of funding allows us to deliver on the education pillar of our promise. It was always our vision to make the RSL Virtual War Memorial a key education asset accessible to all, and we are now very close to achieving this with a learning partnership that takes our project into South Australian secondary schools.” Brigadier Hanna added that public donations would be of critical importance as well, to support the ongoing technological lifeblood that drives the initiative. Media identity Graham Cornes, a Vietnam veteran, will add his support – at tomorrow’s launch – to the $780,000 education project. Further support is found in a television commercial fronted by Ben Roberts-Smith VC, who has been an RSL Virtual War Memorial ambassador since April 2014. All round, this new partnership strengthens the RSL’s capacity to engage productively with young Australians as the nation’s leading ex-service organisation heads towards its own centenary in 2016. Launch: June 2 2015 (8.30am – 10.00am) Where: McLachlan Room, Western Stand, Adelaide Oval Who: Hon. Jay Weatherill MP (SA Premier), Brigadier Tim Hanna (RSL President), Colonel Steve Larkins (RSL Deputy President), Graham Cornes (Vietnam Veteran and media identity), students from Le Fevre High School. Media Contact: Darren Adamson (RSL – SA/NT) – 0404 077 634
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