Computers in Primary and Secondary Education: the Interest of an Individual Teacher or a School Policy?

During the period of 1989-1992 the number of Dutch elementary schools that are in the possession of computers increased by 40%. More than half of the teachers in grades 4, 5 and 6 (9-1 I yr) actually use the computer in the classroom. In secondary education all schools are in possession of computers. The number of teachers who use a computer for existing subjects in the second grade has doubled in the past 3 yr. Although there is a substantial growth of computer use in primary as well as secondary schools, the data show also that computer usage very much depends upon the individual teachers and is not embedded in the curriculum of existing subjects.