ECAWA has been a thriving professional association for over 40 years, offering members support of a national and international standard.

ECAWA’s History

Beginnings

From ECAWA’s beginnings in the 1970s we have been an association of volunteers committed to getting the greatest benefits for our students through the use of ever changing and ever developing Information and Communication Technologies – in their great variety of forms.

The 1980s

ECAWA was becoming established as a professional association, and became incorporated in 1987, with Lorraine Kershaw as the first President of the newly incorporated group.

ECAWA State Conference began – and just in time for the teachers who by the later 1980s were introducing students to computers in their libraries, computer labs and classrooms.

Remember Dinosaur Discovery?

The 1990s

A decade that started with Acorns and moved on to Apples and “IBM Compatibles, ” and saw Windows 3.11 arrive at the end of 1993, and give us access to peer to peer networking for the computers in our classrooms, labs and libraries.

Students of all ages swapping email with each other, and with students across the world.
A row of clocks on the wall showing different timezones, to make it easier to understand why a response wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow.

And then, the internet arrived.

A safe (well, safer), internet

ECAWA PL events were always full, over full or booked out.

ECAWA was a founding member of the ACCE – the Australian Council for Computers in Education, the peak body for state and territory computer education groups, and serious collaboration between groups around Australia began.

The National Conferences began and two were held in WA.

The 2000s

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The 2010s

and…

ACEC2012 in Perth

ACEC2012 in Perth – based at Wesley College – was the exciting return of our National Conference to WA after well over a decade.

Held every two years, the National Conference was an opportunity for State and Territory members of the ACCE, our peak body, to bring this special event to their home state and invite colleagues from around Australia, Asia and Oceania to join them for a week of learning, networking and fun.

Robin Hutton led the Conference Team through two years of preparatory work, handing over to Ian Gaynor in the moths before the event. Paul Newhouse led the Programme Team and put together an astounding group of internationalspeakers who were ably supported by national speakers as well as local WA speakers and presenters. Roger Sor managed the finances and Lynley McKernan coordinated the work of the various groups.

On top of the learning, the networking friendships made, and the fun, from ACEC2012 in Perth ECAWA was able to develop a Reserve Account, that has provided ECAWA with a stable financial base from which to work.

(After ACEC2012 our national conferences took the title ACCE 2014… from the title of our peak body.)

The early 2020s were as difficult for ECAWA Members as for most people. Covid 19 disrupted our schools and our society as a whole. While ECAWA Membesrswere better placed than most to use technology to keep their classes functioning and their students engaged, as well as support their colleagues, there was strain, uncertainty, and health issues to be managed.

The ECAWA Committee made the very difficult decision to cancel the ECAWA 2020 State Conference, and for the first time in over thirty years, we had a year without an ECAWA Conference. The only consolation, if it could be called that, was the realisation that, even if we had tried to go ahead with the Conference, it would have been called off at the last minute anyway, when a Lockdown was called.

We found people slow to return to face to face PL events, and the ECAWA State Conferences in 2021, 2022 and 2023 were mauch smaller events that we’d been used to – although the programmes were as engaging as ever and the participants took wonderful ideas back to school with them.

With the Committee deciding not to hold a Conference in 2024, we are looking forward to the ECAWA 2025 State Conference.

So, what will 2025 hold for ECAWA and ECAWA Members??

and ….