In a review of barriers to the use of technology in teaching, Balanskat et al. (2006) refer to the ‘rigid structure of the traditional schooling system’. However, it is often the case that some of these concerns can be self-imposed (Marsh, 2006). There is a range of evidence to suggest that positive attainment in examinations and achievement of narrow curriculum objectives can be obtained through creative approaches to the curriculum (Marsh and Bearne, 2008).

When reflecting on their involvement with the project, the teachers in the DeFT project acknowledged that their case studies demanded a great deal of classroom time and their own time. This is a common perception and can be a real barrier to integrating digital technologies into a demanding subject-led curriculum with the added constraints of continual targets, assessments, observations and inspections; there is a feeling in some schools that digital literacy ‘projects’ are not as highly valued as more traditional projects as the time they can take to complete are disproportionate to the time and effort invested in them. .

The review of the National Curriculum leading to the launch of the revised Curriculum in 2014 is considering streamlining the essential knowledge needed by all children to give school more flexibility in delivering the curriculum (DfE 2012).

Curriculum flexibility was evident in several case studies demonstrating a creative, cross-curricular approach and innovative practices. (See Case Study 4, and Case Study 6 as examples of this).