Schools’ Computing Policy as State‐directed Innovation

The decade 1980‐90 was one of great importance for educational computing. The outstanding feature of the first half of the decade was the Micro‐electronics Education Programme (MEP) which ran from 1981 to 1986. This period may be described as one of relatively open‐ended exploration. In the second half of the decade, by contrast, there was a sharpening of policy goals and a move towards curriculum compulsion. This paper seeks to establish the key role of central government in promoting the use of computers in schools. It notes a shift throughout the decade away from a rationale based on industrial and vocational considerations towards a rationale based on considerations of effective teaching and learning. But it argues that there is still a need for greater clarification of objectives and more precise identification of the resources necessary to meet those objectives.