Mechanical Skills

Developing practical fluency with the tools used in teaching and learning.

This domain traces the progression from simple device use to confident, purposeful and shared use of technology in learning.

Sustainable capability in this domain develops progressively across five phases.

Phase 1

Teachers use digital technologies primarily for presentation and basic classroom tasks. Use is functional and familiar, but remains discrete, with digital resources and lessons treated as separate rather than connected across learning.

Phase 2

Teachers and students use digital tools to support structured learning activities. Technologies are selected and applied within defined lesson contexts, but use remains largely guided and limited to familiar functions.

Phase 3

Teachers and students use a broader range of digital tools to support conceptual learning and collaboration. Technologies are selected with greater flexibility and applied across learning sequences, resulting in more purposeful and connected classroom use.

Phase 4

Teachers and students integrate multiple digital technologies within learning experiences in deliberate and purposeful ways. Technology use extends beyond support functions to shape direction, inquiry and the structure of learning.

Phase 5

Digital capability is confident, adaptive and embedded in everyday learning. Teachers and students apply technologies with assurance and are able to experiment, refine and extend their practice in response to evolving learning needs.

Capability in practice

These indicators support reflection on current capability in this domain.

Phase 1

Replacement

I use a projector primarily to present information during lessons.
I save lesson files but rarely revisit them in later lessons.
Students use devices for short, defined tasks such as typing or completing worksheets.
I plan digital activities for individual lessons rather than across learning sequences.

Phase 2

Supported

I choose digital tools to help students complete set tasks in a lesson.
Students use devices for defined tasks such as drafting, editing or manipulating content.
I use third-party applications in planned ways to reinforce lesson objectives.
Digital tools support the work of the lesson but do not shape how it is design.

Phase 3

Interactive

I use a wider range of digital tools to support different learning goals.
Students use technology to explore ideas and explain their thinking.
I build on digital work across lessons rather than starting from scratch each time.
Students use digital tools to present and share their ideas in different ways.

Phase 4

Blended

I design learning experiences that use more than one digital tool in purposeful ways.
Students choose digital tools that best support their learning goals.
Technology helps shape inquiry, discussion and problem-solving in the classroom.
Students work together using digital tools to develop and refine their ideas.

Phase 5

Harmony

Technology use is part of everyday learning rather than as an added extra.
Students and I confidently choose tools that best support our learning goals.
We refine and adapt our use digital tools in response to new challenges.
Students and I support one another in developing effective digital practices.

This domain works alongside three others to build integrated capability.