Schools are being provided with the chance to register their commitment to IT after government agency Becta announced the release of the Next Generation Learning Charter.

The document aims to take the first step towards strategic and effective use of technology in the classroom by getting the schools to sign up, which will then be provided with advice and support as to how their school can adapt to modern computing.

Chief executive of Becta Stephen Crowne said that technology in the classroom should no longer be a "distant dream", adding that it is a part of everyday life for everyone and schools should not fall behind on the trend.

He continued: "The Next Generation Learning Charter will help thousands of schools develop their use of technology across the school, so we have a world-class education system where all young people are inspired and motivated."

Becta originally stood for British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, with the acronym now recognised enough to be used as an independent term.

In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were guaranteed response times and allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues.