More than ever before, new technologies hold the potential for greatly enhancing the process of teaching and learning. The past quarter century, however, has witnessed numerous examples of technologies that significantly influenced various sectors of society but made scarcely any impact on schools. As educators are called upon to help students master an ever-increasing array of complex learning outcomes, we need to consider carefully how technology can add to our capacity to help all children succeed in the classroom.
The United States is experiencing a telecommunications revolution in which billions of dollars are being spent on advanced technologies designed to capture the attention and dollars of consumers with new services. The challenge before us is to find a way to harness the power of these new technologies to provide a comprehensive, cost-effective, accessible, and sustained service for educators. One area of tremendous potential is the so-called information superhighway.
The Clinton administration, spearheaded by Vice President Gore, has a clear goal of connecting every school, library, hospital, and clinic to a National Information Infrastructure (NII) by the year 2000. The White House formed the Information Infrastructure Task Force to craft the administration's vision for the National Information Infrastructure and to help make it a reality.
- computers, televisions, telephones, radios, and personal communication devices;
- telecommunications systems, like the phone network and cable TV systems;
- information resources; and
- people who service and use the system."
As one commentator has noted: "The promising vision of an advanced telecommunications infrastructure lies not only in its potential to help public and private institutions to prosper and survive, but also in its capacity to improve social, educational, and economic services for the vast majority of the nation's citizens."
Reality Looms
But the present reality is that many classrooms lack basic access to technologies that are already available.
For example, according to Princeton Survey Research Associates, almost 90 percent of K—12 classrooms lack access even to basic telephone service. Nationwide, only about half the public schools use both networks and modems, allowing them to access outside resources.
Typically, schools acquire technology in a piecemeal fashion as budget constraints permit. Advances in technology have left many schools with a variety of components, both software and hardware, that may be considered "islands of information": They exist on different systems not readily accessible to all who need them. Most teachers, moreover, are still isolated in their classrooms, and opportunities for significant professional exchange and growth are limited and often ill-designed.
As we approach the 21st century we must focus on networking—technical and human—as crucial in the continuing dialogue among students, teachers, administrators, parents, and employers on how to provide the present and future generations with the tools they need to live fulfilling and productive lives. But the issues of providing teacher training and developing new curriculums to take advantage of the resources offered by the information superhighway have received little study.
Focus on Equity
Emerging communications technologies are ushering in a completely new information superhighway. The ability to navigate the superhighway may be a life or death matter for schools. But while many schools are preparing to take advantage of computer networks and other new technologies, most are basically uninformed about the policy developments and what they will mean.
One of the quandaries of the information revolution is that those who are information poor often don't know it and are therefore unable to participate in the revolution. Unless things change, the information revolution will only aggravate the inequities stemming from current policies for providing basic services in our country. We must not codify inequality for succeeding generations.
We are living in revolutionary times and witnessing changes that have consequences for the lives of millions of people. It is simply not possible for existing educational systems to meet the challenges of the 21st century without embracing the power of new information technologies. If we are to avoid the mistakes of the past, we must find creative ways to ensure that technology supports the mission of schools: providing quality education to all students.