Researching computers and education - glimpses of the wider picture

With information and communications technology (ICT) beginning to form the basis of extensive educational reform around the world, this paper considers how research into educational computing can move beyond its 'hobbyist' origins and keep abreast of the burgeoning role of technology in education policy and practice. By discussing the present limitations of educational computing research the paper goes onto suggest an agenda for advancing and improving inquiry in this area. In particular the discussion focuses on the need to embrace diverse methods of research and theoretical approaches to examining educational computing, as well as the need to ask 'wider' questions of the social, cultural, political and economic aspects of ICT in educational settings.