Peter Freebody is Professor of Education at the University of Queensland and Academic Advisor to the Queensland Department of Education and the Arts. His research and teaching interests include literacy education, classroom interaction and quantitative and qualitative research methods. He has served on numerous Australian State and Commonwealth literacy education and assessment advisory groups.

Professor Freebody’s research is widely published in respected international and Australian journals. He is the invited Australian contributor to the International Handbook of Literacy and the Handbook of Reading Research. His recent books include Schooling the child: the making of students in classrooms, Qualitative Research in Education: Interaction and Practice, and Australian Literacies: Informing national policy on literacy education, with Lo Bianco. He is on the editorial/advisory boards of several journals.

_Abstract

Evaluating The Le@rning Federation's online curriculum content: implications for teaching and curriculum

In this paper survey and case study data relating to a field trial of the Le@rning Federation’s online curriculum content will be summarised. Extensive surveying of teachers, students, parents and other stakeholders indicated, along with overall positive reactions to the materials, a number of specific strengths and challenges. In addition, case studies showed the range of ways in which the materials were put to work in schools and classrooms. The presentation will conclude with discussion of ‘new technologies’ being put to work as part of ‘old pedagogies’, and the ways in which the special promises of online curriculum might be fulfilled in classrooms.