5 years ago: IT in schools - we're on a roll

18.05.99: Educational IT vendor Research Machines (RM) says demand for technology in UK schools is booming. RM finance director Mike Greig expects schools' growth in IT spend to continue in the long term, and says schools, like businesses, are gradually increasing the proportion of budget allocated to IT.

18.05.04: Schools are reaping the benefits of earlier IT investments, according to the government. Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, has published a report saying the IT situation in classrooms is better than it was five years ago.

There is more technology at kids' disposal and teachers are more adept at using it, with 90 per cent rated as "competent" IT users.

But it's still not perfect. We've not yet reached the government's goal of making technology part of every subject taught. According to the report, the educational IT experience is still "sporadic and teacher-dependent" and not all schools have integrated tech into the classroom equally well.

The Ofsted report includes recommendations for further improving IT in schools, including setting aside cash for new hardware (such as laptops for teachers), a makeover of broadband access and the use of electronic portfolios so both parents and teachers can review students' work.