A nation of "cyberdads" are becoming more involved with their children's education because of the boom in personal computers and the Internet.

A survey commissioned by British Telecom shows that the UK's fathers are spending more time with their children to teach them about new technology.

The study, carried out by National Opinion Polls, looked at 300 parents of school-age children who use the Internet.

Researchers asked them who took the lead in their children's home learning.

The results show that before a family buys a computer, only 9% of fathers took the lead.

After a computer purchase, 16% take the lead in educating the children at home.

Dubbed the 'cyberdad' phenomenon, the increased incidence of home learning has been associated with the dads' own interests in information technology.

The findings suggest that rather than isolating individuals, home computers are having a positive effect on family relationships.

Psychologists have subscribed to this view of computers for some time.

But the survey also showed that fathers are only interested in the exciting aspects of home study.

The results indicated that when it comes to surfing the Internet or desk-top publishing, fathers are taking the lead.

Relatively few take charge of the more mundane tasks such as reading with their children and supervising homework.

NOP Research Group's most recent Internet User Profile Study suggests that around one in 25 of all households in Britain are now linked to the Internet.
 

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