1.The Current Trends of ICT

ICT are at the core of learnign and teaching in the 21st century. Queensland's future depends on how successfully we intergrate ICT in the curriculum and daily learning and teaching( State of Queensland, 2002) - The Director-General of Education Queensland

In our ever expanding world, one thing is highly noticeable. We are shifting ever more toward a technologically advanced future where children, teenagers and adults must be skilled in the use of a multitude of devices and software. In a recent post from english-online.com, it outlines the emerging generation, Gen-Y and Gen-Z in comparison to the Baby-Boomers and outlines the obvious difference:

"While baby boomers were influenced by the aftermath of World War II, television, rock and roll, the Vietnam War and the hippie movement, Generation Y has grown up with the Internet, globalization, mobile phones and Facebook." (English Online, 2013)

IT, whether it is in the form or devices, software, programs, or websites, are spreading rapidly into all areas of the world into areas like business, law, new &current affair, universities and most importantly schools. Schools currently are in the midst of a paradigm shift where the traditional style of teaching is being revolutionised by technology and its capabilities. Now more than ever teachers, current or up and coming, should be integrating ICT into the classroom. In 2008, The Melbourne Declaration on educational goals for Young Australians set a national policy. This policy called the Digital Education Revolution (DER) outline numerous ways the government would aid in the integration of ICT into the classroom, in order to prepare students for the future. One of the aims (National Secondary School Computer Fund) was to provide the funding to achieve one computer per student from grades 9-12 by 2011 (Jennifer Howell, 2012). The government and a multitude of other organisations recognises the currently shifting world toward IT and are making changes so that students are ready to meet these expectations of being capable, competent and confident in their use of such technology and programs.

 

Data of "Australia's Total Informations and Communications Technology (ICT) Spendings" (Picture, n.d.)

 

I myself have witnessed the change within my final years of schooling, being a part of the last grade without a laptop provided by the school, taught by a brand new syllabus that prompted and expected a higher and deeper level of understanding technology and also witnessing the variety of uses or programs and equipment such as interactive white boards all in an effort to empower the future men and women of society with the necessary skills required to be not only successful but to excel in our ever advancing world.

 

The world as we know it is changing. ICT is everywhere, in your smart phone, in a laptop, tablet or even an interactive whiteboard. Our world is evolving into one where a person incapable of interacting with IT will be lost. It is thus imperative that in following the trend of the world that teacher successfully integrate ICT and it intricacies into the classroom for students.