MANILDRA PUBLIC SCHOOL has done away with maths textbooks. There are no homework sheets or paper booklets, and rarely is the printer or photocopier needed. In fact, this 40-student primary school, nestled almost halfway between Parkes and Orange, is virtually paperless.

The principal, Steve Wilkinson, who teaches grades three to six in one class, had a "flash in the night" experience last year that convinced him to have a completely digital classroom. "I realised … the next logical progression was for the kids to come in, sit down at their own personal computer and interact on a digital platform," he says.

With funding from the Department of Education and Training, as well as the P&C Association, the school already had a large number of computers so it was not a big jump to make.

Now every student in the senior class uses a smartboard - or interactive whiteboard - for group learning, and an optic fibre network throughout the school provides broadband.

"I'm using the technology because it's logical, useful, productive and motivating," Wilkinson says. And because it is environmentally friendly. "The amount of paper we're saving is enormous."

Getting to this point has taken time and effort. "The change from the old style of teaching to this was a huge shift. There were a thousand systems in place in the classroom to keep it functioning. You don't see them because good teachers [don't expose them]."

But by changing everything to digital, even simple things had to be considered: how would one platform get information to students? What distribution lists are necessary? What file structures and folders to save documents should be in place? What naming protocols should be used to make sure there are not dozens of files with the same name floating around on the server?

Students use the internet, word processing, desktop publishing and photo software to complete tasks, and an extra dimension has been added to creative writing by voicing narration into microphones.