Abstract
New media are often promoted as crucial components in present day efforts at educational reform. Advocates argue, for example, that digital media can be used to develop students' skills in accessing, analyzing, and using information in many forms and from many sources. Some educators believe that new media can help develop higher-order thinking skills, or that they can make learning more exciting or more meaningful to students. Many of the hopes sound reasonable and desirable, but the history of educational media suggests educational reformers tend to have a difficult time achieving the results they desire. Some of the hopes that people have today for digital media mirror those that people had for such media as radio and television. A better understanding of this historical context might help guide the meaningful use of new educational media today.