The rapid adoption of digital technologies in schools has dramatically changed the way schools and classrooms look, teachers work and students learn. In part 1 of this 3-part series on technology in education, Dr Ralph Saubern discusses whether these digital innovations have led to improvements in student learning, and explores how a professional learning community aligned teaching practice with available technology to improve students’ text analysis skills.

‘If we want to set the next generation up to thrive in an increasingly digital world, then we need real-world strategies that are created with them, not just for them.’ In today’s article, the Alannah & Madeline Foundation share why they embraced the voices of children and young people when co-designing their online safety and digital literacy education initiative, eSmart.

‘By focusing on future-orientated education, we can find innovative solutions to the megatrends our planet faces.’ In his first Teacher column for 2025, OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher shares finding from the latest Trends Shaping Education report, and the implications for teachers, school leaders, students and policymakers.

Last term, the 2024 recipients of the Prime Minister’s Prizes for Excellence in Science Teaching were announced. In this episode, Alice Leung and Daniel Edwards join us to share some of their favourite learning activities to run in the classroom, discuss why STEM is for everyone, and share how they use social media to connect with experts.

The winner of the 2025 Global Teacher Prize has been announced. Mansour Al Mansour from Saudi Arabia has walked away with the US $1 million prize. One Australian teacher was a top 10 finalist this year – Brett Dascombe, a Senior Geography Teacher from Wavell State High School in Brisbane. In this special podcast episode, Brett shares how he exposes his students to real-world, project-based learning by embedding geospatial technologies like GIS, drones and remote sensing data into the geography curriculum.

In his first Teacher column for 2025, Professor Geoff Masters AO poses these questions: will schooling be different for children born this year, and if so, how? He then offers 3 suggestions for how learning at school might evolve by 2040.

With the advent of ChatGPT and the emergence of similar generative AI tools, the teaching and learning landscape is facing a major challenge as it considers how schools might respond to generative AI. To guide schools with their investigation and implementation of generative AI, the Australian Government released the ‘Australian Framework for Generative Artificial Intelligence in Schools’ to guide the responsible and ethical use of generative AI tools.

‘Tech-savvy doesn’t necessarily mean privacy-savvy.’ Teacher talks to Julie Maclean, co-author of a new report into student smartphone use, about how a generation that has grown up with technology is failing to mitigate the risks, and what schools can do to help.

A new study from the Australian National University Tech Policy Design Centre and the Australian Computer Society has found more than two-thirds of teachers are struggling to effectively teach Digital Technologies. Today’s article explores some of the issues and how schools can better support teachers.

‘Increasingly, schools will need to support their young people to not just develop content knowledge and skills through effective learning, but also ensure their students know how to learn, individually and with others.’ Today’s article shares how the UQ Learning Lab is helping educators to set their students up for success at school and in life.