When "software takes command", people take fright -- a reaction which frequently accompanies change or novelty. Their fears are understandable, but they also cloud people's view of the potentials that digital tools and digital media hold for society and especially educational contexts. Their fears also define societal debates and…

In June/July this year a group of 28 educators from across Australia travelled to the US on the 2011 ACCE ISTE Study Tour. The group comprised a very broad section of educators--primary, secondary and tertiary classroom teachers, ICT coordinators, managers, private consultants and regional office managers. The government, catholic and independent…

This article presents the ACCE/ACS National Educator and Leader of the Year winners. Anne Mirtschin is the recipient of the ACCE/ACS 2012 Educator of the Year Award. Mirtschin is an innovative teacher at Hawkesdale P-12 College a small rural school that is isolated culturally and geographically. She uses online tools and technology to create…

The Melbourne Declaration recognises the place of ICT in education by it being both a general capability (GC) and a learning area conceptually placed under the umbrella of Technologies. This dual recognition acknowledges the shift to a knowledge-based society and the need for all students to acquire and apply a depth and breadth of ICT knowledge,…

As schools increasingly move towards 1:1 computing, research is required to inform the design and provision of this access. Utilising the Activity Theory (AT) notion of contradictions and expansion as a theoretical underpinning, this article suggests netbooks as a viable option to provide 1:1 computing for primary school students. Decisions…

This article focuses on introducing Web 2.0 technologies and possible uses for student and teacher learning and collaboration. Many of these tools are already used in social and business contexts. These new and emerging applications are also gaining popularity in classrooms across all education levels. Various applications are introduced to raise…

Describes the information technology curriculum in the post-compulsory years of secondary school in Victoria (Australia). Highlights include the Victorian Certificate of Education; student demographics; descriptions of the curriculum units, including information processing and management and information systems; and professional support for…

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…

This article reflects on twenty or more years of development and research in educational computing. It argues that the emphasis on exploiting the technology in the service of contemporary ideas about learning held by many of the early workers has been lost to a focus on the technology itself and its capabilities. In schools this has led to an…

In 2003 the authors visited four schools in the Western Australian Department of Education and Training's Kimberley Education District to investigate the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in the curriculum for students who have diverse needs. The visits also provided an opportunity to investigate how teachers in remote school…

Provides a framework for understanding the issues connecting IT (information technology) studies in Australian high schools to Australia's information economy future. Topics include the IT industry; government's strategic planning for a stronger economic future; and the role of teachers, including the need for more IT teachers. (LRW)

In 2002, the Honk Kong government launched a pilot scheme "e-school bag" promoting the use of wireless technology in ten primary and ten secondary schools for classroom teaching and learning. In 2003, a secondary school successfully received a grant from the Quality Education Fund (QEF) to implement a wireless network for outdoor field…

What does it mean to "develop professional standards"? This paper argues that the task is one of setting up the processes and resources that will bring about an informed and growing teaching community. This is not a task in making lists of the "competencies" that teachers are to be measured against. Considerable work by…

Technology in secondary schools has become of increasing interest as the power of the micro chip has developed. For the students of Mathematics, computers and hand held graphic calculators need to be accessible to all. They are relevant to the needs of the students' courses and to support and develop their Mathematical learning (Smith, 1997).…

The importance of teacher education graduates having appropriate information and communication technology (ICT) for learning competencies and experiences is well documented. However, without well developed processes for auditing the ICT experiences of undergraduates it should not be assumed that teachers will enter their profession with the…