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. Curriculum materials Educational materials were initially devised by teachers for teachers, financed by the Department of Education and Science 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 microelectronics and its effects, and to encourage the use of the technology as an aid to teaching and learning'. DTI Computer Scheme By 1982, the Department of Trade and Industry 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 Acorn Computers and Research Machines computers. The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was used in a variety of situations, very often for control projects, such as teaching children how traffic lights worked. Regional structure 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. The focus for the training was split into four 'domains': the Computer as a Device (exploring and developing Computer Science as a subject); Communications and Information Systems (looking at the electronic office and developing a Business Studies theme); Electronics and Control Technology (developing devices and resources to support Science and Technology subjects); and Computer Based Learning (looking and developing how uses of technology could support teaching and learning right through and across the whole curriculum). Primary Project 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 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