When used in a pedagogically sound manner, interactive whiteboards (IWBs) are a valuable resource for connecting students with their learning. IWBs have been utilised in remote NSW schools for almost ten years, with other regional schools having only recently installed them. Exemplary teacher practice that demonstrated good pedagogy in the use of…

Much of the current focus on maximizing the potential of ICT to enhance teaching and learning is on learning tasks rather than the technology. These learning tasks increasingly employ a constructivist, problem-based methodology especially one based around authentic learning. The problem-based nature of history provides fertile ground for this…

This article focuses on the teaching and learning of languages using multimedia tools to engage students and improve outcomes. Information Communication Tools are an increasingly important part of the learning environment in the Northern Territory schools. Crucial issues being addressed include how they can enhance teaching and learning practices…

This paper describes the use of handheld computers in the Science classrooms of four Tasmanian schools over a year. Analysis was informed by theories of innovation and assisted by ecological perspectives. Teachers demonstrated a range of attitudes to innovative pedagogies associated with the devices, and these corresponded to student achievements.…

In 2005 the Australian Council for Computers in Education (ACCE) was successful in obtaining a grant from National Centre of Science, Information and Communication Technology and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR) to undertake the Computing Studies Teachers Network Rural and Regional Focus Project. The project had five…

The Knowledge Age is at hand, and with it, new worldwide demands for Learning Societies. The shape of learning-with-ICT to come--new lifelong skills, new kinds of learners, new learning theory, new global ways of learning, and new learning tools--are all highlighted. The top ten challenges for using ICT to help invent the Learning Societies of the…

The research reported in this paper considers the current telecommunications network for the three education systems of state, independent and catholic schools in Western Australia as well as drawing on the personal experiences of teachers in these systems as the government attempts to close the digital divide with its Networking the Nation…

The ACCE position statement for creating media enriched learning communities targets all stakeholders in educational policy and practice who influence the future of learning, schools, and systems. Stakeholders include policy-makers in government, national and international organisations, professional networks and institutions, school leaders,…

The calls for the transformation of how science is taught (and what is taught) are numerous and show no sign of abating. Common amongst these calls is the need to shift from the traditional teaching and learning towards a model that represents the social constructivist epistemology. These calls have coincided with the Internet revolution. Through…

This paper is the second part of a longitudinal study on the reliability of and access to ICT technologies in remote schools in north Western Australia [WA]. Part One was featured in the last issue of "AEC" ["Australian Educational Computing"]. It was an investigation into the access and practicalities of online opportunities…

This article provides an overview of Systemic Initiatives in the Australian States and Territories. This updated overview acknowledges the help and information provided by key contacts whom the authors contacted from each of the Australian State and Territory government education systems. In addition, the role of the Ministerial Council for…

During the 2001 summer holidays, the main Social Science classroom at St Ursula's College, a Catholic Secondary Girls' school of 740 pupils in Toowomba, Queensland was renovated. A mini-computer laboratory of four nests of computers was incorporated into the traditional teaching space. (See Diagram 1 and photograph). This room was named the…

This paper is the first in a two part series, this first part describes the findings from visits to two isolated and remote schools in the far north of Western Australia in 2001, the second part to be published in the next issue of AEC will describe a visit to the same schools in late 2003 to see what has changed. Parts of this first paper were…

This paper begins with three very "public" examples of how education providers across Australia are attempting to assimilate new teaching and learning technologies into existing teaching and learning structures. The transition, as predicted, is not altogether smooth. The dual concepts of the online classrooms as a "self-actualising…