The Importance of Progression in ICT Capability

From ICT Capability to Digital Literacy: How Educators Can Drive Progression in the Classroom

How progression in ICT capabilities is achieved through structured teaching and reflective practice

 

In today’s technology-rich classrooms, building ICT capability is no longer a “nice to have”—it’s a foundational part of teaching and learning. The Australian Curriculum has recently transitioned the ICT Capability general capability into the newly defined Digital Literacy capability, shifting the emphasis from digital tool use to critical, creative, and responsible digital engagement.

 

But with this shift comes a common challenge:
How do you ensure ICT capability develops progressively, both for you and your students?

 

Let’s unpack this question and explore how structured, curriculum-aligned teaching strategies can lead to authentic and measurable growth in ICT capabilities—without adding to your workload.

 

 

 

What Has Changed: From ICT Capability to Digital Literacy

The previous ICT Capability continuum (Version 8.4) focused on technical proficiency, safety, and communication using ICT tools. While these elements remain essential, the Digital Literacy capability (Version 9.0) expands the vision. Students are now expected to:

• Investigate and interpret data

• Create and collaborate with purpose

• Practice safe and ethical online behaviours

• Operate and manage digital tools confidentlygeneral-capabilities-di…

 

These skills are structured into four clear elements:

1. Practising digital safety and wellbeing

2. Investigating

3. Creating and exchanging

4. Managing and operatinggeneral-capabilities-di…general-capabilities-di…

 

This update reflects a more holistic, lifelong approach to technology use—emphasising critical thinking, communication, and responsible citizenship in the digital world.

 

 

 

Why This Matters in Early Childhood and Primary Education

From preschool onwards, children are surrounded by digital experiences. Whether they’re taking a photo on a tablet, drawing on an IWB, or programming a Bee Bot, they’re forming early ICT habits that shape future learning.

This is why progression in ICT capabilities must be intentionally planned. Without clear milestones, digital learning risks becoming repetitive, superficial, or isolated from real-world application.

The updated curriculum supports a staged development of digital skills that:

• Start with supported exploration (e.g., recognising the parts of a computer or using a touch screen)

• Evolve into independent use and troubleshooting

• Culminate in collaborative digital projects and ethical decision-making

 

 

 

How to Align ICT with Professional Goals for Early Childhood Educators

One of the most common questions early childhood teachers ask is:
How do I integrate ICT in a way that also supports my professional goals and aligns with the EYLF?

 

To support this, we previously published a detailed blog:
🔗 How to Connect Digital Play to Learning and Development Goals with Ease

 

This resource explores how educators can intentionally link digital play activities to:

• EYLF Learning Outcomes

• Technology-related learning intentions

• Pedagogical documentation and reflection

 

By identifying meaningful uses of ICT, educators can set professional goals that promote both child development and their own digital pedagogy. For example:

• Setting a goal to use more open-ended ICT tools to foster creativity

• Documenting how digital tools support social collaboration

• Reflecting on how digital literacy connects with wellbeing and safety

 

As professional learning becomes more evidence-driven, linking technology integration to your own goals ensures ICT isn’t just an add-on—it becomes a deliberate, progressive teaching strategy.

 

 

 

 

What Progression in ICT Capability Looks Like in Practice

Progression in Digital Literacy requires both intentional teaching strategies and aligned digital experiences. Below is a table that shows how each Digital Literacy element from the Australian Curriculum progresses across the early years, and how specific membership lesson plans, resources, and tools help you implement this progression in real classrooms.

 

📊 Digital Literacy Elements and How They're Developed in the Membership

Digital Literacy Element	Curriculum Progression (F–Yr 6)	How the Membership Supports This
Practising digital safety and wellbeing	Students identify risks, manage digital identity, and regulate screen use	Digital safety lessons with Bee Bots Critical Reflection questions in workbook Templates for ethical ICT use
Investigating	Locate, collect, and interpret information using digital tools	QR Code Nature Hunt and Augmented Reality ExplorationQR code nature hunt Augmented Reality outdo… Observation and Assessment templates EYLF-linked science & inquiry activities
Creating and exchanging	Plan and create content, collaborate digitally, respect intellectual property	Outdoor Digital Storytelling & Digital Nature WalkOutdoor digital storyte…Digital nature walk and… • Tools like Book Creator, iMovie • Member-shared ideas in Community Forum
Managing and operating	Select and use tools confidently, troubleshoot, and store content safely	Learning About Computers lesson for ECELearning about computers • ICT Differentiation levels in all lesson plans • Device function guides & “How-to” tutorials

 

These examples demonstrate that progressive digital skill development for students is already embedded into many of the lesson plans available within the membership—and can be matched directly to the Australian Curriculum v9.0 outcomes.

 

Below are practical examples of how educators can foster ICT progression across different levels of schooling:

Early Childhood Examples

• Learning About Computers: Children are introduced to a keyboard and mouse, exploring how technology works while building vocabulary and motor coordinationLearning about computers

• Digital Nature Walk: Children use digital cameras or tablets to photograph patterns and textures in nature, then edit their images using a drawing appDigital nature walk and…

• Outdoor Digital Storytelling: Children record nature sounds, combine them with narration, and create a collaborative digital story using tools like Book CreatorOutdoor digital storyte…

 

Primary Classroom Examples

• Problem-Solving with Bee Bots: Children use directional coding to solve challenges like navigating a map or spelling their names with alphabet cardsBEEBOT~1

• QR Code Nature Hunt: Learners scan QR codes outdoors to access multimedia clues and apply knowledge by sharing findings in digital journalsQR code nature hunt

• Drawing with Programmable Toys: Students use Bee Bots to create artwork, integrating movement, direction, and creativityProblem solving activit…

 

Each of these experiences builds progressively on student skills in:

• Navigating digital tools

• Communicating with ICT

• Managing digital content

• Reflecting on technology’s impact

 

 

 

Supporting Progression with a Structured Teaching Path

Just as students need structured experiences to grow digital capabilities, educators benefit from a clear professional pathway. The membership supports this through the Success Path framework: Adoption → Adaptation → Infusion → Transformation.

 

Here’s how your growth aligns with the curriculum’s expectations—and the tools in the membership that guide you at every stage.

 

📈 Educator Progression: Linking the Success Path to Curriculum and Practice

Success Path Stage	Educator Focus	Curriculum Connection	Membership Tools to Use
Adoption	Learn how to use ICT meaningfully in one or two lessons	Teach students to explore basic ICT tools with support	‘Learning About Computers’ lessonLearning about computers • ICT Audit + planning templates • Foundational videos (e.g. What is Digital Literacy?)
Adaptation	Integrate ICT purposefully and align with learning goals	Guide students to investigate, collaborate and create simple content	• Bee Bot abstract art and coding challengesProblem solving activit… • Critical Reflection prompts • Wisdom Tool for adapting lessons
Infusion	Embed ICT across KLAs and lead creative projects	Facilitate student-driven digital projects, analyse and present data	Stop-motion animation + outdoor AR storytellingOutdoor digital storyte…Augmented Reality outdo… • Cross-KLA lesson planning templates • TPACK tracking in workbook
Transformation	Lead innovation, mentor colleagues, model best practices	Empower students to work independently and ethically with digital tools	Leadership projects and digital policy templatesTRANSF~1 • Case study guidance + PD workshops • Wisdom Tool for mentoring strategies

 

This table helps educators see themselves on the path, and more importantly, understand how the tools available to them enable both their professional goals and their students’ learning needs.

 

 

 

Why It All Comes Back to Capability

Ultimately, the importance of ICT for students is inseparable from the capabilities of the teacher. You can’t teach what you’re not confident to model. The updated curriculum makes this clear: Digital Literacy is about developing both the capacity to use tools and the mindset to use them wisely.

That’s why many educators are choosing structured, ongoing professional learning opportunities—like the ICT in Education Teacher Academy—to align their practice with the latest curriculum and confidently guide their students through each phase of ICT development.

 

 

Final Reflection:

How are you intentionally supporting progression in ICT capability—for both your learners and yourself?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Progression in ICT Capability?

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability is more than just a 21st-century skill embedded in the Australian Curriculum. It is a tool for learning where students can use “ICT effectively and appropriately to access, create and communicate information and ideas, solve problems and work collaboratively in all learning areas at school and in their lives beyond school” (ACARA, 2016).

 

The core strength of ICT capability development lies in a teacher’s ability to judge the decisions the students make in order to complete a finished product.

 

A student needs to be able to demonstrate their knowledge of a wide variety of ICT software and hardware together with their awareness of this knowledge-base and their ability to make informed decisions as to whether this knowledge is appropriate to use.

 

 

The learning progression and continuity of student ICT capability in education is a crucial plan for teachers from early childhood education through to secondary education to consider.

 

When individually examined, learning progression is more concerned with an individual’s learning and refers to how a student can learn concepts and skills of an increasingly difficult nature.

 

Continuity focuses more on the experiences offered to students and this can be achieved by students if they are presented by the teacher with “tasks that are designed to follow on from one another with no sudden jumps and no repetition” (Kennewell, Parkinson, & Tanner, 2000, p. 166).

 

Both aspects of ICT capability are valuable to the management of students as work that is duplicated can lead to the stagnating of learning for them and this in turn can result in disruptive behaviour (Kennewell, Parkinson, & Tanner, 2000).

 

It is imperative, therefore, that teachers design activities that build on a student’s previous learning and provide achievable challenges (Kennewell, Parkinson, & Tanner, 2000). The sharing of views by teachers with their colleagues is also then a key player to ensure that this occurs.

 

 

According to Kennewell et al. (2000), it is the increasing scope and transferability that defines learning progression in ICT capability. The development of student ICT capability combines both practical and theoretical elements and this means that teachers need to ensure that students are continually working at a higher standard while undergoing complex hands-on tasks and are demonstrating their comprehension of increasingly sophisticated ideas and concepts.

 

The use of sophisticated software and techniques is essential to support a students’ learning if they are to progress through school (Kennewell, Parkinson, & Tanner, 2000).

 

Learning Progression and continuity in student ICT capability is about teachers ensuring that their students are prepared for 21st-century life by being an ICT capable student.

 

To be ICT capable is to have the disposition to construct ICT solutions to problem situations that are relevant to the context and are based on the knowledge of the opportunities and constraints of the ICT tools available.

 

Teachers should provide opportunities for students to go beyond developing knowledge of a wide range of techniques and skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                             

Understanding Capabilities 

The Australian Curriculum has emphasised the importance integrating digital technology to use in the classroom throughout all key learning areas by ensuring that ICT capability is included in teaching practices.

 

So what is ICT capability? The Australian Curriculum defines ICT capability as the integration of technology to use in the classroom. It states:

“….students develop Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability as they learn to use ICT effectively and appropriately to access, create and communicate information and ideas, solve problems and work collaboratively in all learning areas at school and in their lives beyond school. ICT capability involves students learning to make the most of the digital technologies available to them, adapting to new ways of doing things as technologies evolve, and limiting the risks to themselves and others in a digital environment.”

These skills are significant for students in a knowledge-based economy and will be developed through key learning areas as you integrate digital technology to use in the classroom.

 

The 5 components of ICT capability are:

1. Routines;
2. ICT techniques (skills);
3. Concepts;
4. Processes;
5. Higher order thinking skills.

 

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View our range of online professional development courses for teachers now

 

While routines and ICT techniques may be easily understood, it is important to comprehend the significance of how conceptual understanding underpins the learning of ICT techniques.

This ultimately enables these ICT techniques to be transferrable across different learning areas.

Therefore, you should encourage students to reflect on the use of ICT techniques across contexts and situations.

 

Processes are a series of ICT techniques and learning processes require a substantial degree of personal autonomy on behalf of the student.

The processes described in the Australian Curriculum ICT capability represent a significant part of the knowledge, understanding, and skills for students.

Despite this, processes are not associated purely with ICT, but more with the way in which ICT interacts with problem-solving situations in other subject areas or in the real world.

 

Higher order thinking skills are essential in order to execute processes the student has to apply.

 

 

An ICT capable student is someone who has the disposition to construct ICT solutions to problem situations that are appropriate to the context and are based on the knowledge of the opportunities and limitations of the software and hardware involved.

 

In a study of schools in the UK, high levels of ICT capability in students demonstrated that they could:

• Use ICT to support their learning in all subjects.
• Use common ICT tools used in classroom teaching.
• Take responsibility for their own learning, developing strategies to help them learn how to use unfamiliar ICT tools, and work collaboratively.
• Use current hardware and software and understand its potential and limitations.
• Understand that using ICT affects social processes.

(Crawford, 2011, p. 6)

 

 

Kennewell et al.(2000, p.38) states that:

“ICT capability requires not only technical knowledge and skills but an awareness of this knowledge base, so that effective choices can be made.”

 

 

Laying the Foundation in the Early Years

Information and Communication Technology capability goes beyond the teaching of ICT skills or techniques and its development should be the central focus in the early years. 

 

Scholars such as Siraj-Blatchford believe that ICT capability can be integrated in early childhood learning activities so that ICT is appropriately and creatively used in a way that they learn about the ICT potential of situations.

 

In his view, ICT capabilities can be facilitated in digital role play situations where early childhood teachers enable play with developmentally appropriate technology in early childhood education.

 

As one of ACARA 21st century skills, ICT capability development is a primary goal of early childhood and primary teachers. It is about equipping the children with sufficient experience to enable them to use ICT without having to stop and think.

 

Learn more about the membership's examples of professional goals for early childhood educators here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mapping a Path to Progression with ICT Capability

Understanding the Australian Curriculum Learning Continuum

The learning continua of the Australian Curriculum is designed to help teachers provide personalised learning for students with the Australian Curriculum general capabilities in the key learning areas. They all begin in the Early Years/Foundation Stage and the learning that is learned here supports the subsequent learning throughout a child’s education.

 

 

Australian Curriculum General Capabilities

In the Australian Curriculum, 21st-century skills such as literacy and ICT capability are developed by students when they "apply knowledge and skills confidently, effectively and appropriately in complex and changing circumstances, in their learning at school and in their lives outside school" (ACARA).

They encompass dispositions, behaviours, knowledge, and skills. For example, in terms of ICT capability need to apply ICT to relevant curriculum tasks such as those given to them in literacy activities. It also means that they have to evaluate the outcomes of their ICT work.

 

 

The ICT Capability Learning Continuum

General capabilities within the Australian Curriculum are known as 21st-century skills and the general capability ICT is a prominent area to focus on as society delves deeper into an online environment.

The use of ICT is widespread throughout all key learning areas and this makes it beneficial for you as a teacher to ensure that the teaching and assessment of this general capability is carried through.

Like other continua, its purpose is to help you plan for personalised learning for students in the development of ICT capability.

 

 

 

Australian Curriculum Literacy Continuum

In the literacy learning continuum, the use of ICT is prominent in the following links:

• EARLY STAGE 1 - ACELA1433 & ACELY1654
• STAGE 1 - ACELA1450; ACELA1466; ACELT1586; ACELY1661; ACELY1664; ACELA1674
• STAGE 2 - ACELA1790; ACELA1793; ACELY1682; ACELY1607; ACELY1685
• STAGE 3 - ACELA1797; ACELA1511; ACELY1700; ACELY1703; ACLEY1704; ACLEY1707

ACARA states that:

"ICT capability is an important component of the Australian Curriculum: English. Students use ICT when they interpret and create print, visual and multimodal texts. They use communication technologies when they conduct research online, and collaborate and communicate with others electronically. In particular, they use ICT to access, analyse, modify, and create hybrid, digital, and multimodal texts, using digital publishing."

 

 

 

What is ICT Capability?

ICT Capability in the Australian Curriculum is recognised as the integration of digital technologies throughout key learning areas. It is comprised of five key components that together make it up. These include:

• ICT techniques - which is commonly taught by teachers, but does not necessarily mean that the student is ICT capable.
• Routines - which is a series of ICT techniques conducted by students without much thought.
• Processes - a set of routines carried out to achieve an ICT solution.
• Concepts - underpins all ICT techniques a student applies.
• Higher-order thinking skills - the decision making a student uses to decide which ICT technique and routine to apply that will be able to solve the problem.

 

 

 

Literacy and ICT Capability in the Primary School

The development of literacy is aided with the help of ICT in many ways. Literacy development can occur throughout key learning areas like ICT capability. It makes sense then to demonstrate their compatibility in this example.

 

ICT capability is inextricably associated with practical outcomes in meaningful subject-related contexts such as literacy with ICT activities.

 

Literacy and ICT in primary school can, therefore, be developed simultaneously effectively and efficiently.

 

Before I move on, it is important to remember that if you are to effectively teach literacy with ICT, it would be pertinent for you to make effective use of the provisionality inherent ICT.

 

The Literacy Continuum - ACARA

Below is a Literacy with ICT capability example.

 

 

 

Ongoing Formative Assessment Strategies

At the core of being able to understand the learning continuum is your ability to comprehend the role of ongoing formative assessment strategies in personalised learning.

For you to optimise student outcomes with diverse learning needs it is essential that you employ formative assessment techniques carefully.

This is how you are able to make adjustments for personalised learning.

Ongoing formative assessment strategies will help you to decide how to offer support to sustain their interest.

 

The evaluation of the plan which will arise as a result will be able to note significant developments in each child’s thinking, new understandings they have demonstrated, or new ICT skills they have used.

 

Figure 1. Australian Curriculum ICT Capability Learning Continuum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teaching ICT Capability in the Curriculum

The teaching of the ACARA general capability or 21^st century skill, ICT Capability, is a significant component in the Australian Curriculum. ICT capability is defined in the national curriculum as the integration of digital technologies and key learning areas such as English make a lot of use of its capabilities to develop literacy alongside its learning.

 

As a primary and early years teacher, this is of particular importance to you as the Learning Continuum for ICT capability points out the role of teachers to ensure learning progression occurs from Foundation to Year 6. Thus being responsible for the majority of learning to happen.

 

So I have broken down the best teaching practices and methods for primary teachers to use. However, it is essential that Secondary teachers need to also apply these principles and practices as learning progression will only continue if all teachers share the same perspective of ICT general capability which means that they all use the same or similar practices.

 

This is what I call integrating technology in the classroom by supporting its use with evidence based strategies in the classroom.

 

In this article, you will learn how to:

• What the components of ICT capability
• Fundamental concepts behind ICT capability
• Understand the best way to develop ICT capability
• Establish a starting point for learning
• Plan for learning progression in ICT capability
• Sharpen the focus of your interventions (teacher knowledge of resources)
• develop each component of ICT capability
• Employ formative assessment strategies.
• Repeat these steps.

 

 

What are the components of ICT Capability?

Research shows that this can be broken down into 5 key components and typically it is the ability of a child to carry out these components which makes them ICT capable.

• Routines
• Techniques
• Processes
• Concepts
• Higher order skills

 

It is the latter two which is of most importance to understand when seeking to teach ICT capability effectively. You must always teach the concepts behind the ICT skills and strive to ensure that there is conceptual understanding for students. Higher order skills is well-known for being developed with educational tools like ICT. It is its use in developing ICT capability which makes it stand out more than ICT skills. You can learn more about this here.

 

Fundamental concepts behind ICT capability

Research indicates (Kennewell, Parkinson, & Tanner, 2000, p. 22) that the concepts behind ICT capability are as follows.

CONCEPT	INFORMAL MEANING
File	A unit of data that can be saved, loaded and printed
Window	An area of the screen which can see part of the file
Menu	A list of objects which can be displayed and selected
Text	A continuing string of characters including formatting codes
Object	Something which can moved, formatted, copied, selected, resized, deleted and transferred to other locations
Presentation	A set of text and objects, animated suitably for communication in screen form
Publication	A set of text and objects, positioned suitably for communication in printed form
Data structure	A store data which can be searched and selected information display
Model	A representation of relationships amongst variables
Spreadsheet	A grid of cells which contain either a value or a formulae
Hypertext structure	A set of text and objects containing links which allow quick access to chosen options
Procedure	A sequence of instructions to achieve a desired goal
Monitoring process	A system that records data automatically from sensors at intervals of ti
Message	A sense of text and objects together with a destination and return addre
Website	A hypertext structure which can be accessed remotely from any location

 

Given this fundamental information on ICT capability, you are now ready to fully appreciate its value in the classroom.

 

 

 

Teacher ICT Capability

When talking about student ICT capability, it is not just about assessing what ICT skills they have been taught, but how they make use of those ICT skills in another context. The very same principle can be applied to your own understanding of how to use ICT in your teaching career. Here is an example which might help you better understand.

 

You might know already how to use a presentation program like PowerPoint and with the use of data projector, you can use a presentation for each class. However, you need to decide when such a presentation is an effective piece of technology in addition to making a judgement about the class of students that you are teaching. You need to make the decision about why this would be better than other teaching techniques.

 

Use the following free teaching resources to determine your own capabilities in ICT today.

 

 

 

Teacher Knowledge of ICT Tools and Resources

If you have a clearly defined purpose for the task then you will be sharpen the focus on your interventions. By being familiar with a program, it will help you identify the circumstances when students are ready to move onto a new feature or to use the software for a more demanding purpose. It is more important for you to be knowledgeable about one program that your students will use than to have an acquaintance with a large number.

This won’t limit their ICT capability development.

It is also better for the students to work with a small number of versatile programs and progressively develop their skills and confidence in these through carefully structured activities than it is trying to learn how to use a large number of them superficially.

 

 

 

What is the best way to develop ICT capability?

The general capability ICT is inextricably associated with practical outcomes in meaningful subject-related contexts. Therefore, the most effective way to achieve ICT capability in the classroom learning is to provide with meaningful activities embedded in purposeful subject-related context. Give them something interesting to do and then monitor the approaches they use when completing and ICT task, activity or project. 

 

Establish a starting point

When you plan to develop a child’s capabilities in ICT, it is essential that you find a starting point for their learning journey and then give them accurate directions that will enable them to achieve their goals. It is important that you have an appreciation of where the children are, where they ought to be and where they might be heading next.

So create a small ICT activity within a subject-related context and list the ICT skills which you believe they need to use and what they should know.Then follow this up by monitoring their progress in the task and track what ICT skills that each student can and can’t use. From here, you can plan for the effective progression in ICT capability.

 

 

Plan for the Progression of ICT capability

This is one of the greatest problems faced by many primary and early childhood teachers. You must ensure that children are supported in their development of ICT capability while providing them with context which stimulate learning in other subjects as well. First up, you need to decide the purpose of the ICT activity in the subject. You literally have three choices to make:

1. Is it to develop student ICT capability?
2. Is it to support the subject context?
3. Or is it for both the above?

 

I recommend that it is the last one because the ultimate purpose of using technology in the classroom is remain transparent in the background whilst students are learning subject context. You could give them a meaningful ICT task in the subject and have them develop their ICT capability at the same time.

 

It’s a win-win situation!

 

Next, you need to decide if they need to be monitored. My answer to this is yes, because the rich context of the computer or the Internet can be distracted for one, so at times they appear to be working effectively when in fact, they are not. 

 

Another question which should consider is whether or not ICT will be used as a tool by the students. My advice is that it always should be recognised as a tool, a tool as a medium for learning and not always for one for fun.

 

If your answer is No, then the purpose of the ICT activity is not appropriate in the classroom.

 

 

 

Progression in ICT capability cannot be achieved unless you have embedded formative assessment strategies to determine their learning progress. For this reason, there must be planned opportunities for you to assess their ICT capabilities. 

 

An important note to remember is that progression in ICT capability is facilitated through broadening and elaborating contexts in addition to using more sophisticated software in response to the demands of the tasks.

 

The increased use of sophisticated software does not constitute progression in ICT capability. It will only constitute a little more development on their ICT techniques. Students need to be able to find and overcome difficulties for learning progression to occur.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Develop all components of ICT capability

There was a reason why I wanted you to become aware of the components in the first place. Each of these components needs for you to plan to develop them.

 

Here is how it is done:

 

Routines: students who are slower with routines will make slow progress in curriculum tasks. If they do not meet the ICT techniques sufficiently frequently, then provide them with practice tasks for homework.

 

ICT techniques: give each one an appropriate name which should be seen not as something extra to learn, but as a means of communicating and thinking about the actions and effect.

 

Processes: at the appropriate times, discuss with students what they are doing at the process level and avoid just identifying the next technique. Draw on relevant images and analogies where it is helpful.

 

Higher order skills: you might handle these yourself as a teacher, but then involve students in the process through whole class teaching. Ask strategic and evaluative questions to model to students what they need to do themselves.

 

Conceptual understanding: this is very important as you need to focus on the concepts behind the ICT skills. Use whole class teaching to discuss examples and non-examples of a concept with and without ICT, in order to highlight the important features of the concept.

 

You also need to challenge naïve ideas about using particular ICT tools and techniques both in whole class teaching and monitoring individual work.

 

 

 

 

Embed formative assessment strategies

 

As the key elements of ICT capability are practical you need to understand that a finished product will only provide partial and very limited evidence of a student’s ICT capabilities. There is a series of sub-skills in routines and techniques, for example, some of which are more sophisticated and effective than others. Would a finished product reveal these methods used to complete it?

No.

 

 

Here is what to do:

• Decide what evidence is needed – the expected or anticipated outcomes should exemplify the learning they represent and relate closely to the learning objectives.
• Gather the evidence – this is best achieved through continuous observation. You might also save or print documents at very stages of the activity for example.
• Keep track of student progress – record the evidence throughout the year. This is to do with the student’s learning progress in ICT capability.

 

 

 

Other teaching strategies for technology in the classroom include: All included in the workshop are...

Understand the nature of ICT capability

This 21^st century skill comprises of five key elements that together constitute ICT capability. They include routines, ICT techniques, processes, higher order skills and concepts.

Conceptual understanding underpins the ICT techniques that students use in a lesson to create an ICT solutions to a problem and an ICT capable student is someone who has the disposition to construction ICT solutions to problems.

They must develop an awareness of the power and limitations of the software and hardware systems available together with a prediction to seek ICT solutions.

 

Employers today demand a basic understanding of ICT rather than a specific knowledge and the vocational justification of ICT capability does not demand knowledge of specific skills, techniques or applications of ICT.

 

Understand how students learn with ICT

At the heart of every good integrator of digital technology is a teacher who understands the key elements of learning theories that underpin the way ICT supports learning. 

Learning theories such as behaviourism, constructivism and social constructivism together with situativity, ‘brain based’ ideas and metacognition. This is start of an effective online PD in ICT integration.

 

 

Boost your competence in the integration of digital technologies

There is clear evidence that links the level of ICT capability of a teacher to that of students’ ICT capability. By conducting a self-audit, you can forget about your weaknesses and capitalise on your strengths. Remember, it is impossible for you to know all there is to know about digital technologies with the rapid rate of development today. For you to become an ICT capable teacher it will require you to develop an understanding and judgement about how to use those skills appropriately, just like it is for students.

For example, you may know how to use MS PowerPoint for a presentation by creating a PowerPoint for every lesson. However, this would be rather to miss the point about what ICT is useful for. As a teacher, you need to decide when such a presentation is an effective use of the technology, and also to make a judgement about the class or group of students that you are teaching.

 

Develop the ICT capable classroom

These classrooms are a combination of teachers who are prepared to model the effective use of digital technologies to the students, ICT capable students (students who have the disposition to construct ICT solutions to problems that are appropriate to the context), and the ICT resources available.

 

Develop the ICT capable school

An ICT capable school is one where the students have a positive attitude towards ICT and a disposition to apply ICT to curriculum tasks. They plan and apply ICT to tasks, describing and evaluating their work with ICT with a high level of knowledge, skill and understanding. It also contains strong roles in ICT in the teaching and learning culture of the school and teachers help students to develop their ICT capability.

 

Facilitate capabilities in ICT

The third part of Kerrie’s online learning involved the application of scaffolding and support for students. Do you know how to effectively demonstrate capabilities to students? Structuring and stimulating student ICT activities throughout learning areas is important if you are to facilitate student capabilities in ICT effectively.

 

Selecting the appropriate ICT tools

Digital technologies in schools these days is so widespread, but did you know that only specific digital technology can fully develop a student’s ICT capability? You may think that using subject-specific software such as Literacy software will do the job. On the contrary, it does the opposite as it will most likely help you as the teacher develop your ICT capability as you use the tools it provides to monitor their work.

 

 

Finding Examples 

When understanding ICT capability examples, it important to first grasp the concept behind them. For example, progression in ICT capability is seen in two major groups:

1. First, strategies, processes and personal qualities relating to the application of ICT to the solution of problems and;
2. Secondly, on the range of problem contexts, sources and ICT tools and resources applied.

 

It emphasises strategic planning, increasing self-regulation, deep understanding and transferrable knowledge.

So key ICT capability examples should indicate that students do have an understanding of the ICT potential of situations and this, in turn, is dependent on the second factor that is a wide range of problem situations for which an ICT solution has proved appropriate.

 

A reasonable ICT capability definition would then be the follow by Kennewell (2000) when he defines what an ICT capable student is.

“…not merely to have secure knowledge and understanding of a wide range of ICT skills, techniques, processes and strategies. It includes also the deposition to construct ICT solutions to problems which are appropriate to the context and are based on knowledge of the opportunities and limitations offered by the systems available.”

 

In a study conducted, they found key ICT capability examples in students such as:

• They were able to use ICT to support learning in all key learning areas;
• They could use common ICT tools used in teaching and learning;
• Students could take responsibility for their own learning, developing strategies to help them learn how to use unfamiliar ICT tools and work collaboratively;
• Use current ICT hardware and software and understand its potential and limitations;
• Understand that using ICT affects social processes.

 

The above ICT capability examples combined with that of the ACARA general capabilities ICT represent the ability of teachers to develop the 21^st century skill in meaningful and context-driven subject learning areas.

 

The ICT general capability in the Australian Curriculum key learning areas such as English/literacy learning can be a means to enhance subject learning in a transparent way that student’s do hardly notice they are using ICT to achieve the learning outcomes set for them.

 

The use of ICT throughout the curriculum not only allows for these ICT capability examples to be realised, but also is to supposed to encourage ‘critical thinking’, imagination, creativity, problem solving such as numeracy, initiative, and independence, teamwork and reflection.

 

 

 

 

 

Importance of improving ICT capability in the Victorian Curriculum

General Capabilities Victorian Curriculum

The Victorian Curriculum has three general capabilities which it draws from the Australian Curriculum which include:

• Literacy
• Numeracy
• ICT capability

Each of these do not constitute a learning area or what is known as a capability in the Victorian Curriculum itself.

 

Despite this, the use of ICT in the curriculum represents many opportunities for learning such as that in literacy and numeracy. Both of these are learned throughout key learning areas.

In this article, you will learn the importance of the general capability - ICT capability - in the curriculum and how you can build your capacity as a teacher in relation to teaching and assessing student learning progression in it. First, it is pertinent to understand ICT capability.

 

 

 

What is ICT Capability?

The Australian Curriculum defines ICT capability as the integration of digital technologies in key learning areas. Its counterpart in Victoria, states that:

 

"...the ICT general capability skills are either specifically embedded in the content descriptions of Mathematics, Media Arts, Geography, English and Digital Technologies or schools have the flexibility to determine how these skills will be used in their teaching and learning programs for other curriculum areas. 

The Literacy, Numeracy and ICT general capabilities from the Australian Curriculum F–10 are therefore represented in the Victorian Curriculum F–10 as embedded in each curriculum area and are not discrete areas against which teachers should report student progress."

 

ICT capability is much more than the teaching and learning of ICT techniques! It is the ability of a student to carryout out the following processes which constitute as ICT capability.

• Routines
• ICT techniques
• Concepts
• Processes
• Higher order thinking skills

 

An ICT capable student is someone who has the disposition to construct ICT solutions to problem situations that are appropriate to the context and are based on the knowledge of the opportunities and limitations of the hardware and software available at the time.

 

 

High level ICT capability factors include if a student could:

• Use ICT to support their own learning in all subjects.
• Use common ICT tools
• Take responsibility for their own learning, developing strategies to help them learn how to use unfamiliar ICT tools used in the classroom, and work collaboratively.
• Use current ICT hardware and software and understand its potential and limitations.
• Understand that using ICT affects social processes.

(Crawford, 2011)

 

 

Victorian Curriculum General Capabilities - Literacy, Numeracy and ICT

ICT has a lot to contribute to both literacy and numeracy learning, particularly in early years and primary education. Yet for the general capabilities to be developed you would need to make effective use of the provisionality inherent in ICT.

 

Research has shown that the extent to ICT was used to support the development of literacy or numeracy depended to a large extent on your own ICT capability as a teacher and in literacy and numeracy teaching.

 

What do I mean by teacher ICT capability?

A teacher's ICT capability is very much similar to that of a child's. It is not about knowing every ICT technique or software or hardware, but understanding how you can best use these ICT techniques appropriately. For example, PowerPoint presentations may be good for a particular class, but questions need to answer like "why this would be better than other teaching techniques"?

 

 

What is the importance of improving ICT capability in the classroom 

In the Victorian Curriculum, there is a requirement for teachers to report on the progress of their students’ ICT capability. These include critical thinking, creative thinking, personal, social and intercultural abilities among others.  

 

Many studies have concluded that incorporating ICT into the learning process provides students with opportunities and tools that they need to be able to be successful in the information age.

 

The traditional educational environment is just not suited to preparing learners who can be productive in the modern workplace. Basically, any teacher who is not embracing the use of ICT in the classroom cannot claim to be preparing students for careers in the 21st century.

 

Whereas it was originally used to improve efficiency in the overall educational process, institutions have realized that there are many other benefits that are associated with using ICT in education.  

 

 

 

What are the factors influencing the use of ICT in education? 

1.Teachers’ attitudes  

The successful implementation of ICT in schools that use the Victorian Curriculum largely depends on the support of teachers. If teachers have a positive attitude towards technology, they can easily provide the insights needed for the ICT to be a part of the curriculum.  

2.ICT competence  

ICT competence is, basically, the ability to handle various computer applications for varying purposes. If teachers have a higher competence, then their schools are more likely to have a higher ICT capacity. It goes without saying that a teacher who has experience using computers will be more confident when using them to teach in a classroom.  

3.Accessibility  

Access to the necessary ICT infrastructure plays an important role in determining whether ICT is integrated in schools or not. Without important hardware and software, it is impossible for schools to adopt ICT.  

4.Technical support  

Without technical assistance, regular breakdowns of computers can end up interrupting learning and hindering ICT capacity in the Victorian Curriculum. That is why it is so important for schools to have a good level of technical support so that ICT integration is quicker and successful.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Theory to Practice: Bringing ICT Capability to Life in Your Classroom

As digital tools continue to evolve, so too must our understanding of what it means to build strong ICT capabilities in early and primary education. Across several key blog articles, we’ve explored this journey—from understanding the importance of ICT skills for students, to implementing curriculum-aligned lesson plans, and now navigating the shift to the Digital Literacy capability in the updated Australian Curriculum.

 

The key takeaway?
Progression in ICT capability doesn't happen by accident. It requires intentional planning, classroom integration, and professional reflection. That’s exactly what the ICT in Education Teacher Academy membership is designed to support.

 

As you’ve seen in the featured blogs:

• ICT capability is developed through play, storytelling, problem-solving, and exploration.

• The curriculum now expects students to manage data, operate digital tools confidently, and engage in safe, ethical online behaviour.

• Teachers must not only teach these skills but also grow their own digital literacy in the process.

 

Through structured stages—from Adoption to Transformation—the membership helps you:

• Select done-for-you lesson plans that align with EYLF and the Australian Curriculum

• Track your professional growth using the workbook and critical reflection tools

• Collaborate with other educators to refine your practice and deepen student learning

 

Every lesson, resource, and reflection tool is purposefully designed to help you meet both student learning outcomes and your professional goals as an educator.

Are you ready to move beyond isolated ICT activities and begin a clear, supportive journey toward digital capability—for both yourself and your students?

👉 Consider becoming a member of the ICT in Education Teacher Academy today.