Australian Bureau of Statistics - what the numbers tell us.

How well do the statistics as presented match up to the reality you experience?

Proportion of Households (%) with computer or internet access
44% to 66% have access to a computer in the home
from 1998 to 2003 – 5 years.
16% to 53% increase in internet access.

Various Uses of internet
In 1 year computer access up 5% to 66%
In 4 years access to mobile phones up 28% to 72%
In 1 year 1 year internet access up 7% to 53%
In 3 years variety of internet uses up 17% to 58%
5% work
4% study
5% govt.services
10% (over 3 years) purchasing or ordering goods & services

http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/drs/indicator/268/index.html

At the start of this year, the Year 2 class I taught had 23 children, and of those only 3 did not have access to a computer and the internet at home.

I received emails regularly from a couple of the parents about different matters and some of the children accessed our Blackboard VCR.

For the ICT Census this year, it was found that year 6 & 7 children were less likely to have access at home but many of the younger children did.

A number of the teachers who live in the area of our semi rural school do not have broadband access and are restricted to dial up. At Logan Village we are half an hour from Brisbane. One even has both neighbours on broadband but for some reason only has dial up, satellite is a very expensive alternative.

What are the implications of these findings for ICT in education?

As at 2003 66% of Australians had access to the internet at home. Only 4% of adults used their computer for study purposes. It would be interesting to know what those percentages are now - there are quite a few advertisements on TV at the moment for online learning. Mobile use, internet access and online shopping are indicators used for a knowledge based economy. We are truly in a consumer driven society!

If the rate of growth has continued, using computers to complement learning at school is a very worthwhile avenue to pursue. Working parents who are probably using computers would perhaps feel more comfortable with online material and appreciate the access to their children’s teachers. Benefits would include improvements in the relationships between home and school and explanations to modern teaching jargon only a google search away. (e.g. maths language has changed for most parents of school aged children).

Another point of note made by Webb S. (2005, p.196) is that statistics also indicate that women are not represented well in computer science. Those developing the tools are not representative of those being expected to teach with them. “if the values of the people who are adopting and using technology are not incorporated into the design of the technology, there is a significant risk that the division of labour will become increasingly gendered.” and notes the work of Fitzgerald & Savage, (2004, p.29) saying this in turn may result in fewer women becoming involved in jobs (such as teaching, information management and librarians) which is “already ‘an aging, immobile workforce, struggling with the impact of and difficulties in implementing and promoting use of new technology.” Educators must make themselves familiar with the new technologies to bridge the apparent gender gap for both students and in job opportunities for themselves.


Fitzgerald, B., & Savage, F. (2004). Public Libraries in Victoria, Australia: an overview of current ICT developments, challenges and issues. OCLC Systems and Services: International Digital Library Perspectives, 20(1), 24-30.


Webb, S. (2005) Diversity in information and communication technologies: The cost of lost opportunities Transforming Information & Learning Conference ISBN 0-7298-0613-8,
http://conferences.scis.ecu.edu.au/TILC2007/documents/2005/TILC%202005%20Sue%20Webb.pdf