Meeting New Challenges in Educational Research Training: The Signposts for Educational Research CD-ROM

This article suggests that the professional educational research community is facing new challenges in the development of educational research training. In particular it argues that as the learning needs of the student population become more differentiated, there is a strong pressure to develop and evaluate the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to support research training in education. The article describes one response to this pressure: the development and evaluation of an interactive multimedia (IMM) resource, the Signposts for Educational Research CD-ROM. The CD-ROM is designed to be used by postgraduate students on a wide range of courses but is particularly aimed at those enrolled on part-time and distance education programmes. Typically, part-time students studying at a distance from their providing institution use print-based materials in combination with occasional attendance at residential study schools; such residential schools frequently represent the only occasions on ...