Access to hundreds - if not thousands - of educational resources at your fingertips, a powerful search facility to pinpoint resources, and all paid for by learning credits provided by the government. That's the government idea that is soon to become reality for thousands of state schools in England, when the Department for Education and Skills' Curriculum Online portal goes live in the next few weeks.

Curriculum Online (COL) has been variously described as a showcase, a one-stop shop, and a shop window for good quality educational digital content such as websites and CD-Roms. When teachers log on to Curriculum Online, they will find a mix of free and fee-based software, including online services, from companies that have been accredited by the DfES. The long-term aim is also to include content from public bodies like libraries, museums, galleries and the BBC.

The DfES is providing schools with £50m of electronic learning credits, which can only be spent on COL resources during this school year. Schools will receive about £1,400-£6,000 of credits each, depending on several factors, including size. The government is releasing £30m this autumn, with the remaining £20m available from next April.

The scheme is initially aimed at teachers, pupils and parents, and a new advanced search engine will enable resources to be searched for by age group, subject or key stage. "It's a natural extension of the national grid for learning," says Nigel Ward, managing director of the software provider, Granada Learning Group. "It's a natural step to move from ICT being a delivery platform to a source of content."

Teachers have generally welcomed Curriculum Online. "Our teachers are excited about it, although we'll have a better idea of what it offers when it's launched," says Helen Fletcher, headteacher and ICT coordinator at St Martin's RC primary school in Reading.

For overstretched teachers, the one-stop-shop idea appeals. "If you can go somewhere with everything in one place, that's a positive step, especially as teachers are busy people," says Dominic Tester, ICT coordinator at Blessed Hugh Farringdon school, also in Reading.

Educational software companies, too, are optimistic. For a long time, they have complained that national grid money has basically been spent on building ICT infrastructure like networks, rather than on software. In backing the new scheme, David Bennett, joint managing director of software supplier/publisher REM, says: "The e-learning credits give schools a great funding opportunity to use a lot more of the software out there and become more familiar with its advantages."

Schools won't need a broadband internet connection to access COL, but many believe that in the longer term, broadband will be needed for downloading content directly from the portal - although that is some way off for many schools.

Steve Bacon, general secretary of NAACE (National Association of Advisers for Computer Education) strongly endorses the scheme but warns: "Teachers will have high expectations of what will be an embryonic system at launch. I hope teachers will realise that Curriculum Online is a long-term project and it won't have everything they need from day one. It's an evolving system."

And Catherine Worth, spokeswoman for ACITT (Association for ICT Teachers in Education), adds: "Our concern is that the content is meaningful and supports the curriculum."


By George Cole