New Zealand's education system appears to be stacking up pretty well when it comes to computers and IT.

A group of teachers and education officials are just back from the second Microsoft Innovative Teachers Conference in Korea, where they have been comparing notes with their opposite numbers from around the Asia Pacific region.

Garry Falloon from the Ministry of Education says the conference highlighted differences between New Zealand and its neighbours - including Australia in some cases. He says New Zealand teachers stood out from their neighbours, because they look at aspects such as creativity.

He says many Asian countries simply reproduce standard classroom practices on-line. He says while many of their teaching programmes were innovative in themselves, they were often constrained by their curriculum design.

Dr Falloon says New Zealand's education system has a much stronger sense of student-centred approaches to teaching and the creative approach of NZ teachers stood out.

He says New Zealanders are at the "front of the ship" in terms of being at the innovative edge of ICT, because of an educational environment which is very different to that of their neighbours.

Dr Falloon says many Asian countries have a far less flexible curriculum, while New Zealand relies on teachers to interpret the curriculum to best meet the needs of their students.

He says technology is best used in the curriculum when it becomes almost invisible, providing easy access to information which leads to understanding and knowledge for our children.