Trends in the Digitalization of K-12 Schools: The Australian Perspective

Although Australian children have plenty of access to digital technologies in school, a common perception is that this hasn't made a difference to the quality of education in Australia. In fact, it is widely considered that educational standards are in decline and schools are failing to teach children the skills that they will need for the future. The Australian Government, however, do recognize that the road to digitalization is long and they have invested in a new digital technologies curriculum and the provision of equipment and teacher professional development to support this goal. While this is a positive move and exciting projects are being implemented in schools, there is less focus on educational research in this area. This is a missed opportunity because research outcomes can provide an additional level of credibility that is required to justify why ‘new literacies’ are essential in a contemporary school curriculum.