AbstractThe rhetoric of technology from the developed world tends to mesmerize educational planners in Third World countries into thinking that the introduction of technology (ie, television, radio, computers, etc) into their educational systems will act as a panacea for whatever ills are being experienced. A study of the actual use over the past two decades of educational television (ETV) and self‐instructional materials (SIM) in the Jamaican secondary school system reveals that ETV and SIM have had limited impact. Inadequate provision of infrastructural requirements, too heavy a reliance on foreign aid, and unrealistic assessment of the real costs of innovation have contributed to this.Current trends in the use of computer‐assisted instruction (CAI) suggest that the mistakes made in the past with ETV may well be repeated. More significantly, use of CAI in the high school and the new secondary school system in Jamaica may well lead to greater disparity in educational opportunities offered to children from different social classes—a situation that successive governments have tried to correct. The paper points out the need for Third World countries to ‘demystify’ technology and assume greater responsiblity for initiating educational innovations that are better suited to the economic and social realities of developin