ABSTRACT
During the period of federal Labor government in Australia (1983-1996), numerous education policies referring explicitly to the use of computers in the classroom were developed and implemented in an attempt to reform the schooling system. Generally, these policies were aimed at restructuring educational institutions to meet the social, cultural and technological challenges posed by industrial restructuring.1 Educators were urged to ensure that students developed the attitudes, skills, and ingenuity to compete in a technologically oriented market dominated by Southeast Asia and the Pacific Rim (Quality of Education Review Committee, 1985). In addition, policywriters encouraged teachers to explore ways in which computers could be used to facilitate teaching and learning by linking geographically distant schools within Australia (Australian Education Council Task Force, 1985; National Advisory Committee on Computers in Schools, 1982; Quality of Education Review Committee, 1985). A key component of official policies produced under federal as well as state Labor governments in Queensland, 19891996 was attention to the underparticipation and underachievement of girls in mathematics, science and technology subjects.2 For example, senior policywriters in the Gender Equity Unit of the Department of Education, Queensland (1991:14) suggested that the difficulties girls experienced participating in many post-school training, education and employment fields could be attributed to their low enrollments in science, mathematics and technology subjects.
