The Melbourne Declaration on the Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEETYA 2008) recognises that in a digital age, and with rapid and continuing changes in the ways that people share, use, develop and communicate with ICT, young people need to be highly skilled in its use. Information and communication technologies are fast and automated, interactive and multimodal, and they support the rapid communication and representation of knowledge to many audiences and its adaptation in different contexts. They transform the ways that students think and learn, and give them greater control over how, where and when they learn. Technology should play a big role in the transformation of learning practices where high levels of integration increases the possibility of personalising learning processes, making learning accessible to students anytime and anywhere. The ubiquity of digital technologies provides new ways of thinking, collaborating and communicating for people of all ages and abilities.

Brisbane Catholic Education believes learning is personalised, active and interactive. It is enabled through learning environments that enhance teachers’ pedagogical capacity and enable students to achieve beyond what has been previously possible. These environments provide seamless access to virtual, electronic and physical tools and resources.

These experiences blend innovative pedagogies with innovative uses of ICT to support new learning opportunities. Thus, the integration of technologies provides students with the opportunity to engage in new learning possibilities and to extend students’ interaction with their local and global communities. Students have the opportunity to become competent, multi literate, collaborative and creative users of a range of technologies. The integration of technology also facilitates the relational nature of learning, providing new opportunities for parents to engage with teachers, learning programs and their child’s progress.

The school implements innovative pedagogical practices that effectively integrate technology. The learning environment needs to focus on technology as a learning and teaching tool to a primary learning environment and build stronger connections in the classroom where the emphasis will be on shared and personalised learning experiences.

A personal digital device program enables students to experience growth in many areas – self-confidence, organization, motivation to learn and learning in a range of modalities. This program will provide both students and staff with an extended range of tools to engage in creative and critical thinking tasks that extend their knowledge and promote collaborative and empathetic learning. Tasks set for students can be more complex as they have so much access to technology and information. Students become better equipped as global citizens and for the world of the future.