$41 million promised for online curriculum support.

The Hon Peter Garrett MP

Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth

23 September, 2011

Media release

“The new Australian Curriculum will be the first fully digital curriculum. It will be accessible online to every school and teacher and will be linked to a wealth of additional materials that will be continuously expanded and updated over time,” he said.

“The extra funding announced today will go to Education Services Australia to deliver the new package, working in partnership with education authorities and other groups to source or develop new resources.
“We’ll also be offering online professional development support and resources for teachers, to help them deliver the new curriculum as it is rolled out over the coming years."

 For further information:

$41 million for online curriculum support to benefit teachers and students

"ACT schools have started implementing the curriculum this year, while most other states and territories will start to implement some subjects from 2012. For more information on the Australian Curriculum, visit: www.australiancurriculum.edu.au.

But be warned -relying on a digital curriculum alone as the answer to developing learning strategies and skills is very short sighted. At the “Schools for Tomorrow” Conference that focused primarily on technology and innovation in schools there were business leaders, entrepreneurs, developers and many other thought leaders (where almost everyone was tweeting from an iPhone), Tyler found it most refreshing to hear panelists emphasise over and over the critical importance of human interaction — both student to student, and teacher to student — to the process of learning. 
Students need to learn how to learn. They need guidance and support to learn.  As Tyler said we need to look at how we can use technology to help students learn.