Teachers College Record Volume 112, Number 10, October 2010, pp. 2703–2716 Copyright © by Teachers College, Columbia University 0161-4681 Policy Implications of Education Informatics JO ANN CARR University of Wisconsin-Madison NANCY P. O’BRIEN University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Background/Context: This concluding article identifies the policy implications of education informatics and explores impacts of current copyright laws, legislative structures, publish- ing practices, and education organizations. Synthesizing the discussions in the preceding articles, this article highlights the importance of designing information systems to promote open access to information in order to support scholarly communications and provide for the application of scholarship to practice within the field of education. Specific steps are pro- posed to further advance education informatics and to anchor it within constantly chang- ing technologies in order to address pedagogical, curricular, and policy issues within education. Purpose: This article is designed to propose future directions for the development of the field of education informatics and promote additional research. Research Design: Information in this article is based on a brief literature review and an analysis of the interrelated implications of the articles in this issue for policy development in education informatics. Conclusions: Although education informatics as a term has been used since at least 1980, there is limited literature about this term. This lack of discussion about the integration of education informatics principles and content in copyright and other legislation, in formal education, and in information dissemination practices indicates that education informat- ics has had little impact as a field of study within the discipline of education. Policy changes at the federal and state government levels and within educational organizations and asso- ciations will be needed to promote the development of education informatics as a core part of the discipline of education. Full development of the field of education informatics will