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254:, covered schools, colleges, universities and training establishments, MEP was specifically aimed at secondary schools in England, Northern Ireland and Wales (a primary school programme was added in 1982). Following a change of government in 1979, Keith Joseph as Education Secretary finally approved the proposal in 1980 and in March a four-year programme for schools, costing £9 million. was announced by the Under Secretary of State at the Department of Education and Science, Mr Neil MacFarlane.
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curriculum development. The young children, and many primary school teachers, were enthusiastic and used the computer as a tool. There was often only one computer per school, and it was on a trolley which could be moved to wherever it was required. Children were then familiar with it as a tool, a resource, not as an item which they might find at home, as is the case today. Richard
Fothergill predicted the computer would become pervasive in society.
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was announced. The programme continued until 1986 and was formally evaluated by Her
Majesty's Inspectorate in that year. HMI reported "The MEP years will be remembered by those directly involved, and by most of those on its periphery, as a time of creativity and fruitful development. There was a new
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The director of the programme was
Richard Fothergill. By April 1981 he had set up a small team of people, operating from offices at Cheviot House in Newcastle Polytechnic. John Anderson was appointed Deputy, and the rest of the central team consisted of Bob Coates, Helen Hindess, Mike Bostock and
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Richard
Fothergill published MEP's strategy in April 1981, having been appointed in the previous November. It had a number of innovative ideas in it, including a wide definition of its work covering computer aided learning, computer studies, microelectronics and information handling and a strong
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Originally conceived as a programme to develop secondary education, it was soon perceived that many primary schools were ready to adopt new methodologies. A National
Primary Project was established, which developed a substantial amount of high class resources that were the basis for significant
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The
Microelectronics Education Programme was developed by the Department for Education and Science when the Prime Minister at the time, Jim Callaghan asked each government department to draw up an action plan to meet the challenge of new technologies. Whilst the prior programme, the
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Lynn Craig later supported by Mike Page for Press and Media, Bill
Broderick for International, and Alan Greenwell and Ralph Tabberer for Curriculum Development. The information collection and dissemination was carried out by the information officer who used an early form of
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became involved and began to introduce computers in the secondary schools, later the primary schools. Teams of teachers, programmers and publishers worked hard to develop software to run on a variety of machines. The two most popular were
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emphasis on regional collaboration. The aim of the programme was to help schools to prepare children for life in a society in which devices and systems based on microelectronics are commonplace and pervasive.
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Fourteen regional information centres were set up around the UK to demonstrate materials to local teachers. There was one information officer, one director and a number of training coordinators per region.
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found and remarkable enthusiasm for IT and its potential impact on all phases and many aspects of the curriculum." Whilst the
Programme was running it attracted world attention and was highly commended.
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Fothergill, R. (1982) 'The
Microelectronics Education Programme' in (eds.) J. Megarry, D.R.F. Walker and S Nisbet, World Year Book of Education:Computers and Education, Kogan Page reprinted 2006
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of
England, Northern Ireland and Wales. It was common to see written on various books and leaflets that the aims of the programme were to 'promote, within the school curriculum, the study of
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HMI (1986), The Work of the Microelectronics Education Programme, London: DES reported in Studies in Design Education, Craft and Technology Volume 19 Number 3 Summer 1987
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Computer Based Learning (looking and developing how uses of technology could support teaching and learning right through and across the whole curriculum).
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http://www.naec.org.uk/organisations/the-microelectronics-education-programme/the-microelectronics-education-programme-strategy
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was used in a variety of situations, very often for control projects, such as teaching children how traffic lights worked.
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Electronics and Control Technology (developing devices and resources to support Science and Technology subjects); and
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Fothergill R., 1981, Microelectronics Education Programme: The Strategy, Department of Education and Science, London
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Communications and Information Systems (looking at the electronic office and developing a Business Studies theme);
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Fothergill (1988) Implications of New Technology for the School Curriculum (London, Kogan Page) page 28
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Fothergill (1988) Implications of New Technology for the School Curriculum (London, Kogan Page) page 28
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and its effects, and to encourage the use of the technology as an aid to teaching and learning'.
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Educational materials were initially devised by teachers for teachers, financed by the
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The programme's closure was announced in June 1985 and a successor organisation the
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the Computer as a Device (exploring and developing Computer Science as a subject);
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http://www.edtechhistory.org.uk/history/the_1980s/MEP_strategy.html
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The focus for the training was split into four 'domains':
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ran from 1980 to 1986. It was conceived and planned by a
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National Development Programme in Computer Aided Learning
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and tools are available to assist in formatting, such as
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