New information technology in education: A challenge to educational policy in Israel

New Information Technology has proliferated in Israeli education mainly through the initiative of many different agencies rather than through "top-down" national policy. However, a need has been felt for comprehensive conceptualization as embodied in a national policy. A clear policy is necessary today, not only for ministries and national departments of education, but for classroom teachers as well. The purpose of this article is to analyze the need for such a policy, review the main issues involved, and outline a proposed policy. Based on an analysis of educational philosophies involved and empirical findings about the impact on education that computers have had so far, a "sound policy" is proposed for using computers in education, focusing on creating "computer culture" in schools and using computers to generate innovation in education.