Ever since coming to power, New Labour has dreamed that it is possible for new technology to transform schools and education. However, the last brick in the wall and the notion that teaching resources might be available at the click of a button has gone down badly with those who make a living from selling them.

Looking back, it is hard to believe that, in 1997, fewer than 20% of schools were connected to the Internet. This was in spite of a decade of trumpeted investment from the previous government. Now, in practical terms, all secondary schools can be considered to be electronically connected. It is likely that what has happened in schools has rubbed off on parents. The UK has one of the largest - and increasing - proportions of homes with Internet access in the world. Over half of the population has accessed the Internet one way or another and by the end of 2003, all libraries should be online and there should be another two thousand online centres in deprived communities.

Spending on ICT equipment in schools continues at record levels supported by grant funding through the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) Standards Fund. Between 1998 and 2002, £657 million of expenditure is being supported in this way. A further £710 million will be made available between 2002 and 2004. In addition, the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) has almost completed its £180 million programme of training for teachers. There has also been yet another expansion of the Computers for Teachers scheme that has given teachers around 32,000 machines in addition to laptops for newly appointed headteachers. This is a huge investment by any standards.

However, the biggest test of the National Grid for Learning and the government's visionary thinking will revolve around the success of Curriculum Online. Starting with a £50 million investment, the service should bring downloadable lessons, individualised learning and innovative materials directly into classrooms. Teachers will have to spend less time on lesson planning and design and will have an effective new motivating tool at their disposal.

The new service has three significant features for its users. First, it provides a library of e-learning materials and online curriculum resources. Secondly, it is a shop, providing access to commercial software for school purchase. Thirdly, it will benefit from a system of credits to be known as e-Learning credits which will be ring-fenced for the purchase of digital curriculum resources. To make this work, Curriculum Online will feature software reviews by teachers, the contents will be tagged for ease of searching and there will be an advisory panel to make sure that resources are available for all curriculum subjects - all with the aim of helping teachers prioritise their needs. £30 million of eLearning Credits (eLCs) will be distributed this month and another £20 million from April 2003. The funding which will be delivered through the Standards Fund is based on a basic entitlement for each school plus a weighting to reflect pupil numbers.

So far so good, but getting to this stage has involved trips up some blind alleys. The first was what was known as the Educational Broadcasting Services Competition. This was an attempt to control the content of Curriculum Online by making providers compete against one another - and against some thin criteria - for a panel of judges. In its first outing, it appeared to many commentators to give all the prizes – and £42 million in funding - to the BBC and Granada while leaving other publishers – both established and new - out in the cold. There was considerable anger and, as a consequence, the competitive process was abandoned and replaced by a system of registration whereby bona fide companies will now be able to provide information about their products. That was a sop to the opponents but, arguably, the damage had already been done. It looks as if the BBC and Granada materials will still feature prominently in the rollout of Curriculum Online although there is a possibility that the BBC will be banned from providing content on the basis that it controls the gateway portal.

Another innovation was the Cybrarian, a voice-driven search engine that would take its users to a range of educational resources. Early in 2001, the government was talking about a system in schools and libraries that would cost £22 million and deal with twelve million ‘hits’ a year by 2003 but that now seems unlikely. Teachers can quickly see how pupils’ use of the Cybrarian might be imaginative while not directed to their studies!

The crux of the current argument between the BBC and the independent digital producers – a group that includes most mainstream educational publishers as well as software houses – is that the BBC is using its license fee to destroy their business. The critics ask why teachers will pay for teaching materials when they can find something equivalent available online for free. This is especially the case when materials are linked to curriculum and there are schemes of work and lesson plans online as well. The BBC response is that the curriculum materials available online may cover around 60% of the subject requirements, leaving space for enhancement materials. That is no help to the publishers of, for example, a major mathematics scheme.

Another broader concern is that this may be another assault on curriculum variety. In the past this has often been insidious. School managements, advisers and inspectors will be quick to define their preferred ‘pathways’ and teachers who wish to do something different will have to explain why.

Finally, it is worth noting that this could all be a storm in a teacup. To make effective use of a facility like Curriculum Online, you need ready access for teachers to broadband Internet connections and, ideally, classroom links. To send lesson content through the Internet requires broadband connectivity to give adequate picture quality for whiteboards and to supply appropriate graphics. However, despite the attempts to talk up broadband, demand is outstripping supply, the initial cost is considerable and rural schools will be unable to use it because its introduction is dependent on the distance between the school and the nearest equipped telephone exchange. In the end it may be that Curriculum Online becomes just another resource bank for teachers rather than a means of transforming learning – that technological leap may be further down the line.