So says The Joint Ministerial Statement on Information and Communications Technologies in Australian Education and Training: 2008-2011. The sentiments expressed in this document must give us some heart. They are unequivocal statements that leave no doubt as to the direction that schools must move over the next few years.

“Technologies are powerful tools for education and training.  They are enabling the transformation of the curriculum and changing the way learners and educators operate, learn and interact.  Technologies provide the potential to enable access to: nationally consistent curriculum; collaborative communication and knowledge building tools; flexible and distance learning opportunities; seamless transition of students and information within and between institutions; engaging learning materials; online services and repositories of knowledge”.

No mistaking that is there? Or this,

“Educators will enhance twenty first century student learning outcomes by effectively and ethically incorporating ICT into their teaching and learning programmes and methods and collaborating in the creation of flexible learning environments”.

And again,

“Learners are active participants in knowledge creation and will engage with state of the art tools which enable new forms of learning, collaboration, innovation and communication”.

These are not wishy-washy statements. The full text of this document is available from the AICTEC website and it makes heartening reading for those of us who have been struggling with this for the last 10 years or so, without such overt government support. Many schools who have forged ahead with technology enrichment programs will, perhaps, no longer be seen as oddities in the educational landscape.

Now I await equivalent thinking and publication of statements about assessment techniques that fit the visions outlined in this document. How can we continue to justify more and more common, paper-based testing? Interesting times ahead I think.