ABSTRACT
The impressions of new technology and the attitudes that are formed towards them depend on the context in which they operate. There are contradictory opinions towards computers, welcoming the facilities and communication offered by ICT and deploring computers when they go wrong. The investment of belief in computers that pervades policy, and which affects schools, is powerful. Such an attitude contrasts with the use of computers in schools and the distinction is clearly made. The impression that computers give in the school context can be quite different, another challenge or even a threat. At school, the curriculum is to be taken seriously. It is a matter of knowing how to learn and retain facts, having memory tested and skills reiterated and repeatedly practised. Computers are associated with pleasure in some circumstances and with drudgery in others. This can vary from day to day, and most students have had a range of experiences.
