The enabling pillars: learning, technology, community, partnership - a report on Australian policies for information and communication technologies in education and training

This study of policies for information and communication technologies (ICT) in education and training in Australian education systems and agencies is the initial component of a project undertaken for the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training.  The report is structured around the five “goal areas” of the Education and Training Action Plan for the Information Economy for DEST: people; infrastructure; online content; applications and services; policy and organisational framework; and regulatory framework.  The report also discusses the evolving context of the information economy and overarching strategies and frameworks for actions. 

Considerable progress has been made in developing policy frameworks and partnership arrangements to further the use of ICT in the sectors of the formal education system, and mainstreaming of policy for ICT in education has become general across Australian education systems.  There has been a strengthening of Commonwealth and State collaboration in addressing the challenge of the information era.  However, access to affordable bandwidth remains a problem in the school and VET (Vocational Education and Training) sectors, and less priority has been given until recently to the needs of adults lacking ICT skills.  Achieving the full potential of ICT in education and in society, so as to transform the way people learn in the digital era, is likely to require policies that stimulate cultural change in education institutions, and in the communities they serve, in building a culture that supports enterprise, learning, innovation, and creativity.

Executive summary: view HTML    

Report: download PDF    (456.2 KB, 99 pages)

Not published in hard copy format