ABSTRACT
The ESRC Information and Technology Programme investigated specific issues involving the use of computers in education: the Information Technology in Education Research Programme (InTER) of 1988–93 established a multi-disciplinary approach to four research themes. The five-year programme investigated: collaborative learning; the development of basic concepts in mathematics and science; tools for exploratory learning and simulations; and the identification and evaluation of learning gains achieved through the uses of information technology (IT). The programme investigated the effectiveness of computers in specific domains. The 1990 study of Underwood and Underwood surveyed and summarised current practice involving microcomputers in school. They identified the two perspectives which shaped attitudes: 'formal' and 'progressive'. The formal approach has much in common with the behaviourist tradition: computers are therefore additional tools through which teachers and the educational process could achieve existing aims and objectives, whilst at the same time providing keyboard familiarity and IT awareness.
