A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS OF

The development of the use of computers in education and some of the educational settings in which computers are used are described, and various types of applications are outlined. A discussion of difficulties in the evaluation of the role of computers in education is followed by an examination of research studies on several aspects of computer use in education. These are the interaction of learner variables with achievement, effect on students ' behaviour, and studies of teacher roles and behaviour. The paper concludes that while the acceptability of computer use in education has been fairly fully examined in research work so far, the more complex problems of the broader effects of computer use in educational settings warrant considerable further study. In this country at present there is an increasing interest in the use of computers in educational settings. This review focuses on instructional applications of computers, and their role and effects in the educational environment found in schools, colleges and universities. Because the components of an educational environment cannot be dissociated from their social context, a full study of the role of computers in education should include a consideration of the role and impact of computers in society as a whole. These broader contextual issues can, however, only be briefly touched on in this article