ICT in education

Information and communications technology (ICT) in education has been taken up by educators and educational researchers since the 1980s with varied success, although it is the relatively new uses of the Internet and World Wide Web that are stimulating new demands and expectations in education, even if research to guide best practice remains scant. In order to identify the trends occurring in ICT in education and research, the author starts with a brief history that has a number of implications that might help us to think about the pathways that ICT may take in an education context. From this brief history, three obvious implications emerge for ICT in education. Firstly, the computer has become a productivity and communication networking device beyond its uses as a standalone machine in its first incarnation. Secondly, the new trend towards SaaS services from remote locations no longer requires the purchase and installation of desktop software productivity applications, but does require access to the Internet. Lastly, the www as a platform for interactive communication is changing the expectations of experienced and connected online users from a \u27push\u27 to a \u27pull\u27 model of communication. In terms of the Australian context in which ICT is being used in education, the author then looks at the take-up of ICT in Australia and scans current national policy in relation to ICT in education in Australia. [Author abstract, ed