Information and Communication Technology in Educational Policies in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

The chapter presents a summary of developments in relation to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in educational policies in Australia and New Zealand. It provides important insights into how policy decisions are influenced by the national and local contexts in those countries, and how policies are influencing the integration of ICT in teaching and learning in primary and secondary education. Trends and developments are identified through the analysis of policy documents and published research to highlight differences and similarities between the two countries. The chapter indicates that both countries have introduced digital technologies in schooling in ways which reflect learning with digital technologies, and are shown to be influenced by international trends. Both Australia and New Zealand have been developing curriculum to guide the teaching of students to learn about digital technologies, through computational thinking and coding. A key challenge continues to be providing equitable access to opportunities for teachers and students to integrate digital technologies effectively into teaching and learning. However, New Zealand has a nationally funded policy of providing universal access to Broadband Internet to all schools which research has found to correlate with improved achievement in the primary years and similar infrastructure priorities were evident in Australia. A further challenge is building teacher capability with and dispositions about digital technologies for effective implementation of policies in both countries.