The Future of Children is published twice annually by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (Los Altos, CA). The primary purpose of The Future of Children is to disseminate timely information on major issues related to children's well-being, with special emphasis on providing objective analysis and evaluation, translating existing knowledge into effective programs and policies, and promoting constructive institutional change. The current issue is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of how computer technology affects children in school and at home.,

The issue is comprised of articles authored by some of the nation's leading experts in child development, media research, special education and school computer use. Dr. Henry J. Becker presents the results of new analyses of data from the national study, Teaching, Learning and Computing: 1998, and from the Census Bureau's Current Population Surveys in 1997 and 1998, to examine children's differential access to computers in school and at home. Drs. Ted S. Hasselbring and Candyce H. Williams Glaser describes the various ways computer technology can help children with special needs become active learners in the classroom alongside their nondisabled peers.

Milton Chen, Jane M. Healy, Mitchel J. Resnick, Laurie A. Lipper and Wendy Lazarus, and Chris J. Dede respond to the question: "How can we help ensure that computer technology is used equitably, effectively, and ethically to promote positive child development?"

A team of researchers from SRI International explores the various ways computer technology can be used to improve how and what children learn in the classroom. They report that research indicates that the use of technology as an effective learning tool is more likely to take place when embedded in a broader education reform movement that includes improvements in teacher training, curriculum, student assessment, and a school's capacity for change.

The SRI team notes that one of the biggest barriers to introducing effective technology applications in classrooms is the heavy focus on student performance on district- or state-mandated assessments and the mismatch between the content of those assessments and the kinds of higher-order learning supported most effectively by technology. This mismatch leads to less time available for higher-order instruction and less appreciation of the impact technology can have on learning. They conclude that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to demonstrate the contribution of technologies in developing students' abilities to reason and understand concepts in depth without developing new kinds of assessments.

Editors' Note: The Packard Foundation review of what we know and what we need to focus on for the future may prove to be very valuable as we enter a period where the demands for assessment of technology's learning impact are bound to escalate.