A digital education portal to give schools access to new teaching and learning resources was launched today. The portal is part of a $211 million managed network which provides schools with fast, uncapped internet, content filtering and network security services. Education Minister Hekia Parata said the portal would give schools access to trusted, high-quality learning resources and make safe online collaboration easy. She expected 700 schools to be connected to the Government-funded managed network, developed by Crown-owned company Network for Learning, by the end of the year. Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye said it could be a challenge for teachers and students to find information they could trust. The portal allowed teachers and students to create, share and rate the quality and usefulness of content. A number of teachers and principals had been testing the portal and a further 500 teachers would be invited to explore it early next month. Ms Kaye said all educators would have access by the end of the year. Source: Education News