By Grace Chua

INFORMATION Technology will become an integral part of the classroom curriculum in the third phase of the Ministry of Education plan for technology in schools.

Education Minister Ng Eng Hen unveiled details of the third Masterplan for Information and Communications Technology in Education in his opening address to the first International Conference on Teaching and Learning with Technology, which is being held on Tuesday and Wednesday at Suntec City.

He gave examples: English teachers could use multimedia to simulate different environments such as a restaurant, a date or a hospital delivery room for conversation lessons, while science teachers could use 3-D software to project chemical or protein structures.

The five-year plan will be implemented from January.

The cost of the plan has not been confirmed.

The first phase, from 1997 to 2002, will cost $2 billion. The budget for the second phase, from 2003 to this year, is $470 million.