Somekh, (1991) in the Pupil Autonomy in Learning with Microcomputers (PALM) project, used action research as a strategy for creating and sustaining teachers’ motivation, thereby supporting their development of both technical and higher-level computer skills. Teachers were asked to experiment with computer use in their classrooms, in order to research their educational potential. The strategy proved very successful. The majority of teachers who worked with PALM had few computer skills when they joined the project and by the end counted themselves as confident if not highly proficient users. PALM provided a considerable amount of on-the-job support through the three full-time project officers. Once motivated to their own development, participating teachers were provided with both educational and technical back-up. They also had access to some financial resources. The theory of ‘situated cognition’ (Brown et al, 1989) helps to explain the usefulness of action research as a strategy for teachers’ learning in PALM, since they acquired most of their higher-level computer skills, and many of their technical skills in the classroom, working alongside their pupils