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The UK government's Microelectronics Education Programme ran from 1980 to 1986. It was conceived and planned by a Labour government and set up under a
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
government during Mrs Thatcher's era. Its aim was to explore how computers could be used in schools in the UK. This was a controversial time for Conservative school policies. The programme was administered by the
Council for Educational Technology The Council for Educational Technology (originally called the National Council for Educational Technology (NCET) but reformed as the Council for Educational Technology (CET) in 1972) was set up in 1967 by the Department of Education and Science in ...
in
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, but the directorate operated, unusually, from a semi-detached house on the Coach Lane Campus of the then Newcastle Polytechnic (now Northumbria University).


Origins

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
National Development Programme in Computer Aided Learning The National Development Programme in Computer Aided Learning (NDPCAL) was the earliest large-scale education programme in the United Kingdom to explore the use of computers for teaching and learning. First proposed in 1969 to the Department of Ed ...
, 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.


Central team

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 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
Teletext A British Ceefax football index page from October 2009, showing the three-digit page numbers for a variety of football news stories Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipp ...
(called
Prestel Prestel (abbrev. from press telephone), the brand name for the UK Post Office Telecommunications's Viewdata technology, was an interactive videotex system developed during the late 1970s and commercially launched in 1979. It achieved a maxim ...
) and email (called Telecom Gold) to disseminate news of materials and training opportunities. Each member of staff created correspondence (see Old Computers link below) on a handheld wordprocessor, a Microwriter, designed by
Cy Endfield Cyril Raker Endfield (November 10, 1914 – April 16, 1995) was an American screenwriter, director, author, magician and inventor. Having been named as a Communist at a House Un-American Activities Committee hearing and subsequently blacklisted, ...
.


Strategy

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 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.


Curriculum materials

Educational materials were initially devised by teachers for teachers, financed by the
Department of Education and Science An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
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 Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture (or microfabrication) of very small electronic designs and components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre-s ...
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 Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the UK, including the Acorn Electron and the Acorn Archimedes. Acorn's ...
and Research Machines computers. The
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ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...
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 the computer would become pervasive in society.


Closure

The programme's closure was announced in June 1985 and a successor organisation the
Microelectronics Education Support Unit The Microelectronics Education Support Unit (MESU) was an organization in the United Kingdom that provided professional support about educational technology. It was announced in 1985, but was merged in 1988 to form the National Council for Educ ...
was announced. The programme continued until 1986 and was formally evaluated by Her Majesty's Inspectorate in that year.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 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 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.


References

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External links


Guardian obituary of Richard Fothergill Description of Microwriter
*http://old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=558
BBC Micro and Professor Hopper
* http://www.educationengland.org.uk/history/chapter05.html *http://www.naec.org.uk/organisations/the-microelectronics-education-programme/the-microelectronics-education-programme-strategy Computer science education in the United Kingdom Educational technology projects Governmental educational technology organizations Science and technology in Tyne and Wear United Kingdom educational programs