The agricultural age was based on plows and the animals that pulled them; the industrial age, on engines and the fuels that fed them. The information age we are now creating will be based on computers and the networks that interconnect them (Dertouzos, 1995, p. 22).

The time required for technological innovations to spread throughout populations of users has been shrinking exponentially. The steam engine took 150 - 200 years, automobile, 40 to 50 years, vacuum tube 25-30 and transistor only about 15 years to permeate society (Schon, 1971). While technological change has been continuing at an exponential rate for the last two hundred years, it has now reached a level of pervasiveness and frequency uniquely threatening to the stable state. Change has accelerated so rapidly that what one generation learns in childhood no longer applies 20 years later in adulthood. Each generation must be able to adapt to new paradigms (Kay, 1991). Vice President Gore warns us that even though the pace of change in this last decade has been astounding it will seem like nothing when compared to the next decade (Gore, 1995).

While all change is more or less disruptive, the implosiveness of the vein of technology developed has made it uniquely disruptive to our infrastructure of government, people, money, flow of goods and information (Schon, 1971). Computers have grown so powerful and affordable that they are ubiquitous (Weiser, 1995). Anyone who uses an automatic teller machine to get cash, watches a movie at home on videotape, or scans the want ads to see what skills employers are seeking is aware that technology pervades the way people live and work. They control our microwaves, automobiles, banks, and missile systems. Supercomputers manipulate billions of commands each second to analyze complex images, forecast weather, and run our power plants. One chip, the size of a square centimeter can execute 500,000 instructions per second (Scientific American Editors, 1995). Using computers to refine technology further has enabled 50 million personal computers to sit on tables and desks at offices, at home and in school rooms and allowed these individuals to access and control vast amounts of data. This in turn has affected the way 50 million people do things. Powerful desktop computers allow for decentralization and distribution of process, product, and personnel. According to Vice President Gore (1995), Communism attempted to centralize information as a means of controlling it but, due to advances in technology, the complexity of more and more information overwhelmed the system. With a cellular phone and personal computer one can interconnect, exchange visual, sound and text data with the supercomputers, enabling one to do business anywhere on earth.

Because technology is a social process, an important facet of technology education is creating awareness of its social context and implications (McLuhan, 1994). We have only begun to see the changes in our society and relationships as a result of this new technology. Further transformations of economy, society and culture will be lead by the melding of computing and communication networks. Faster machines will be created that are smarter and more pervasive than previous technology and this will keep changing at an accelerated rate. Like the telescope and microscope, computers are opening up new realms by stimulating everything from molecular reactions to revolutions.

Organizations can't be controlled autocratically where there is access to telecommunication systems. New electronic technologies of communication have evolved as though they were going to produce the instantaneous confrontation of every part of our society with every other part. As a result social inequities lead to universal attention (Dertouzos, 1995). This phenomena led Marshall McLuhan to coin the term "global village" to our computerized new world.

Some technological innovations have particularly profound effects on education: the invention of the printing press provided universal access to affordable books, which lead to a de-emphasis on teaching the art of memory and put more emphasis on the process of literacy. Easily reproducible documents made the "pen mightier than the sword." The automobile and the bus lead to the consolidation of rural schools and the dispersion of people to the suburbs. The impact of television and video technology on education has been evidenced by the decline of the print culture and the rise of the visual culture (Collins, 1991; Gore, 1995). Computers and their related technologies have the promise of restructuring our society in a dramatically new way, with new relationships and processes and therefore have a critical role in how they influence our schools.

Evolving information technologies are transforming the nature of our work and play. To produce a relevant and employable workforce and socially adaptive people, schools need to change also (David, 1991; Dede, 1989). This change has been mandated, induced, and promoted under the umbrella of restructuring and has been precipitated by the needs of an information age citizenry. No longer is it enough just to read and write. In a world where information comes in many forms: text, audio, graphic, video, and where the amount and information is increasing at exponentially staggering rates, the literacy skills of the last 20 centuries will not take our students into the next one (Hill, 1992).

"The three R's on a blackboard do not cut it anymore. In a knowledge-based world, the students of today, the workers of tomorrow (who) cannot use the tools that create knowledge will not earn wages sufficient to support their families (Kerry, 1994, p.18)."

It is no longer adequate to memorize a base of knowledge."With knowledge doubling every year or so 'expertise' now has a shelf life measured in days..."(Perelmen, 1992, p. 22). What's even more frightening according to Alan Kay, (1991) is that functional illiteracy is only the tip of the iceberg. The real concern is the much larger percentage of Americans who are "idea illiterate" both in terms of what goes on inside their heads, and their ability to deal with complex ideas represented in media. It's finding the information, and using it that become the critical skills.

Lifelong learning

The most noticeable impact of technology results in the rate of change that it stimulates. Lifelong learning takes on a different significance when we realize that new technologies serve up more information, faster, and through more mediums than ever before. With change occurring so rapidly it is impossible to know exactly what skills will be needed to negotiate a society two or three paradigm shifts away. Designing schools and curriculum to meet these needs becomes a process of dune building; always shifting, never stable, and changing as you try to mold it.

Futurists predict that students entering kindergarten now will have an average of seven different occupations during the course of their life and at least half of these jobs do not yet exist. We therefore need to prepare individuals that can learn to adapt to rapidly changing unpredictable environments (Jones, Valdez, Nowakowski & Rasmussen, 1995). We need to go from knowing to learning, from covering content to focusing on understanding concepts, and from a school only context to a learning in life context (Geiger, 1992).

We may not be able to predict the particular micro-skills that a 21st century citizen may need to possess but we know that to thrive in this overheated information environment, students must know how to make this information serve their needs. They need to know how to describe, define and filter information. With on-line libraries, electronic books, journals, documents and databases, the important skills become knowing how to define what youÕre looking for, how to locate it, how to evaluate it, and how to use it effectively to communicate with others. The nature of research is changing with the implementation of electronic card catalogues and electronic multimedia encyclopedias. It is easier and faster to find and retrieve information liberating the learner to spend more time on the higher-cognitive processes of analysis, synthesis and prediction. Technology expands and diversifies the ways and means of doing oneÕs work, promoting efficiency and productivity while freeing up human intelligence for creative, idea rich tasks (Shanker, 1990).

Communication, connections and cooperation

Transformations in our economy have increased demand for interpersonal skills as well as for technical skills (Kelly, 1990). Research has shown that new technologies impact upon schools to promote communication and the development of these interpersonal relationships. According to a Bank Street College survey and studies in Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) on computer use, teachers report increased collegiality in their schools ( Bracey, 1993; Ringstaff, Sandholtz, & Dwyer, 1991). These collaborative activities also established new relationships among the faculty that resulted in more productive work in developing course curriculum and common classroom and administrative procedures. There is also a shift for students from whole class to small group instruction, from lecture and recitation to coaching, and a shift from all students learning the same things to different students learning different things (Collins, 1991; Ringstaff, et al. 1991). The act of using computers creates the need for verbalization, discussion and peer tutoring (Bracey, 1992). There is even a particular category of software called "groupware" which are simulations that require groups of students to collaborate in setting priorities, selecting a course of action, and playing out scenarios to make important decisions around issues of immigration, colonization, censorship, prejudice and drug use (Solomon, 1992).

My experience in working with an alternative education, at-risk students in the Bronx confirmed these findings. As part of an international telecommunications project, The Global Education Telecommunications Network (GETN), I was given a link through The City College of New York to a secondary school in Great Britain. After some negotiations with their instructor, we decided to test the acid rainfall in each of our areas. Students in my class who were previously truant and poorly motivated came to school early to get their E-mail from abroad. They discussed and composed their letters together to make sure they used correct grammar because "they didn't want those English kids thinking Bronx kids were stupid." They asked all kinds of questions about England and were shocked to discover it was on a relatively small island and the Prince of Wales (whales) was not an environmentalist. In their attempts to imagine life in a rural English town they called the British Embassy and were eager to share different resources and descriptions of the Bronx with their British "compupals". They thought of creative ways to test for acid rain and wrote to agencies for information about the problem.

Similar use of computers in promoting communications and new connections have been observed by other educators. Word processing can liberate writers, enabling more children to express their ideas so they could focus on content and style and revise more readily (Edinger, 1994; Marcus 1989). In this way computers evoke their own discipline. If almost perfect results come within the range of possibility, goals are extended to include that possibility (Moxley, 1994; O'Brien, 1984). They help us stretch and reach new levels, allowing us to focus on the process and not the product. Students report enjoying writing more and teachers report receiving better quality pieces. Using computers enables anyone to publish their own work and, using telecommunications, to distribute it to a vast audience.

Trading places

Technology has the potential to transform the relationships between teachers and students (David, 1991). One story passed down to me from a colleague at the university, Frank Watson, dramatically illustrates this point: it was in the early 80's and Professor Watson had just received a new Imagewriter printer to accompany his Apple II computer, however, he couldn't get the machine to print. He sent a message out on a national commercial network asking for help. The next time he went on-line a response awaited him informing him of certain switches that he needed to adjust on his printer. After modifying his printer and successfully printing, he sent a response to his technological benefactor, thanking him and relating that he was a professor of education at The University of Vermont. Frank received a reply to his message which went something like "Hi Frank, nice to meet you. I'm Sam and I'm in the third grade."

It has been noted that the social structure of the class changes when students work with technology on common projects. It becomes evident quickly that the teacher doesnÕt know everything and students need to depend on each other spreading their expert knowledge around (David, 1991). Research conducted in ACOT classrooms with teachers using technology demonstrated that initially teachers relied on traditional teaching strategies but over time instruction shifted from the lecture-recitation-seat work to instruction heavily dependent on student collaboration and peer teaching (Ringstaff, et al. 1991). Students work more with each other in developing a shared product rather than listening as a group to the teacher or performing independently. Students share their expertise with each other and through serving as critics and assisting others as well as receiving assistance from their peers, students become aware of the qualities that distinguish a good piece of work (Means, 1994).

Construction of knowledge

David Thornburg, President of the International Society for Technology Educators (ISTE) describes the goal of education as one of construction as opposed to instruction because it empowers students to appropriate their own knowledge and prepare them for lifelong learning. Instruction refers to teacher-centered, didactic, fact filling, education where the quantity of information is valued and assessed. This traditional model of teaching provided an education to the masses in an efficient-cost effective manner to prepare a workforce for factory labor (Tanner, 1989; Thornburg 1989). Contemporary needs and a newer theory of learning support a constructivist approach which emphasizes a learner-centered model of collaborative inquiry that values the quality of understanding. The importance of the learner's active construction of knowledge is based on the interplay of the new knowledge and the learner's prior knowledge and cannot be separated from its context. It's supporters believe that constructivism holds the promise of deeper understanding and retention (Brooks & Brooks, 1993; Garamston & Wellman, 1994; O'Neil, 1992). For some educators the catalyst for transforming conventional instruction into reform instruction is the decision to center instruction on authentic, challenging tasks (Means, 1994). Technology facilitates the simulation and duplication of authentic problem solving situations by providing students with a cost effective tool for obtaining, organizing, manipulating and displaying data (Means & Olson, 1994). Using tools of technology, students can travel the Oregon Trail in 1848, build a survival tent for a night on Mars , or determine the pollution of the water in Lake Champlain.

As part of the STAR schools project, a federally sponsored grant to promote the integration of science/math and technology for secondary school students, my class of 30 alternative education 7th and 8th graders worked in small groups to design solar houses. Their success would be determined by testing how long each could maintain the heat it received after exposure to a sun lamp for ten minutes. Students worked in groups constructing their models each in their own way. Through telecommunications they had access to a scientist who could help them in their design and direct them to resources. They measured, calculated areas and volumes and used a temperature sensor attached to a computer to calculate the temperature drop. They explored using different materials and paints and developed hypothesis that they tested and evaluated. Not only did they learn more, they worked harder, longer, and also enjoyed the experience.

Teacher education programs need to include technology skills for their students because these are the future teachers and facilitators who will formally educate our children. The National Governor's Association Task Force on Technology recommended to the states' boards of education that integrating technology into the K-12 educational arena begins with pre-service teacher training (Jongehan, 1991). New certification requirements and recommendations from National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and ISTE expect that graduates from schools of education have an array of computer skills and knowledges (ISTE, 1992). Two headed monsters

The struggle for educational excellence in teacher education is struggle of changing societal values, needs and dispositions (Novak & Berger, 1991). Currently this is manifested in the emphasis placed on the use of computers and related technologies. Teachers are striving to integrate these high-tech tools into the process of teaching and learning to prepare future teachers for classrooms that will include technology, and at the same time must also prepare themselves to use this technology. Most higher education faculty completed their schooling and taught in classrooms before technology was linked to the process of teaching and learning. Most are not prepared to use technology because their own preparation occurred prior to the introduction of the current wave of new technologies and research shows that ."...teachers tend to teach as they have been taught, rather than the way they have been taught to teach" (Strudler, 1992, p.5).

There is a growing consensus that the integration of information technology into the teaching/learning environment can best be addressed through advocating and role modeling. Advocacy implies showing others how technology can be applied to advantage in their teaching and role modeling, by using technology to achieve this objective as well as demonstrate the personal and professional benefit to be derived from its use (Wright, 1993).

Resource adding

The promise that information networks offer the public schools and public at-large also provide new and exciting opportunities for higher-ed educators. Electronic journals and databases offer an almost infinite resource bank for research. Within seconds one can be perusing the Library of Congress or the library at The University of Jerusalem. Information is available in text, graphical, digitized, video, and sound formats. Stock quotes can be accessed instantaneously as well as earthquake data and weather satellite pictures. Specialized software enables computer searches to hone in on specific information which can be directly captured into word processing or other programs. Entire multimedia encyclopedias and other references are stored on CD-ROMS and readily available. Free-ware programs like Mosaic and Netscape provide a graphic interface to the Internet and the World Wide Web allowing for exploration of information via hot buttons which link to further resources. With a click of a mouse button a government document of several hundred pages can be safely saved on a computer disk in under a minute. With less time needed to manually search and secure information, faculty have additional time to analyze and evaluate their resources. Productivity building

Educators need tools that will help them to compile, synthesize, and utilize the information they gather on students. Computers provide these tools in the form of databases, spreadsheets, statistical programs and research assistants. There are grammar checkers, bibliography generators, semantic mappers to help organize ideas, and desktop publishing programs to allow one to self publish their finished products. Faculty can create their own handouts, or scan and modify existing ones. Using multimedia technology in their instruction, they can share information with their students in new and exciting ways which appeal to many more learning styles. One portable lap top computer can be connected to an Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and overhead, enabling the projection of the computer screen for a large viewing audience where information in the form of still pictures, video, text, sound, animation and graphs can be displayed.

Learning to learn

As in the public schools, technology provides a powerful tool for the construction of information in higher education. Software programs provide information and teach skills using many formats to accompany different learning styles and preferences. Software enables the average user to write and play music, read a book, explore the great works of art or simply learn how things work. Simulations provide learning experiences by placing the learning in the context. A learner can design a rocket ship and test it's take off ability, simulate the erosion of rock over a period of thousands of years, and even teach themselves how to use a computer. Faculty can continue their own education, conveniently customizing it to their particular needs.

Distance learning

For institutes of higher education, life long learning implies we can consider a newer and broader definition of the student body. With learning becoming a continuous process, new methods of delivery are being explored which are also technology initiated and generated. Some universities like Nova University in Florida and The University of Oregon have entire degree programs taught on-line through telecommunications networks. Assignments are distributed and collected through electronic mail services and real time conferences are available for virtual classrooms where students and instructor exchange information. Further developments in interactive television allow for visual as well as textual interactions where students from remote locations can see, talk, hear, and exchange ideas and conversation with each other. Technology redefines what constitutes a school and classroom. Students can learn from distributed locations without sacrificing interaction or collaboration. (Kinnaman, 1994). Distance learning technologies can help teachers link their students to experts in any field of study anywhere in the world.

Electronic networks can also promote collaboration between members of the same faculty and help overcome the sense of isolation that many educators have identified. It provides a convenient medium for collaborative problem solving with out the time restrictions and logistical problems of face to face discussions: a lively discussion regarding an appropriate college name and its implications was the hot topic in one New England University and served to draw many faculty into the electronic mail arena. Through Internet connections, listserves and usenet groups, these collaborations can have world wide membership. There are authors who have never "seen" their publishers and architects who send blueprints and designs through faxes and computers to clients at remote locations, sometimes continents away.

Where E-mail has been used by students to communicate with instructors in addition to attending live classes, there is a significant increase in their final grades. Communication becomes easier, more frequent and time efficient by eliminating the problems associated with telephone tag (Slovacek & Doyule-Nichols, 1991). Instructors also reported saving time in preparing and distributing handouts and other assignments. Using a distribution list, one message can be relayed to hundreds of people. This year I induced two faculty members to experiment with these class distribution lists and E-mail exchanges; both faculty members exalted the use of electronic communication for this purpose and one told me he never had a better, closer relationship with a class.

Seamless integration

The most successful technology preparation programs include a basic pre-service course in computer technology for undergraduates and an infusion of technology use throughout their other college experiences. (Jongejan, 1991; Schrum, 1994; Wetzel, 1993; Woodrow 1987). There are many opportunities for integrating technology into teacher preparation coursework. Constructivist learning theory tells us curriculum is content dependent and for students to understand how to use the technology it must become a seamless tool used in their own educational experience. To provide this thread at the University of Vermont, students in the elementary education preparation program will document their experience and learning via an electronically stored portfolio. Portfolio assessment is a state mandated requirement at the University for graduation and so all first year students in the program will take a technology literacy course which will provide them with the technical skills they need to construct a documentation of their experiences. Students will also be encouraged to use their computer skills to complete assignments and projects in their other coursework, use E-mail and information networks to contact their advisors and to collaborate with by mentoring students in public schools, joining national discussion groups, or keeping in touch with their friends. Students can use computers to construct curriculum materials for use in their field experiences and for presenting information to students at these sites.

The End of School

Some educators feel school is out; school is doomed (Leonard, 1992; Perlemen, 1992). They perceive schools as out of step with the times, and inside out (David, 1991). According to Leonard (1992) "...the conventional classroom, not the computer is the isolation cell, the lockup." (p.28). Advances in technology have caused discrepancies between school and society but also offer solutions. Technology can serve as a catalyst and glue of educational reform by promoting constructivist learning, encouraging new roles and relationships, and redefining how and where learning takes place.

Technology can provide real audiences for students' writing, or as a tool to extend our limits of creativity by expanding and diversifying the ways and means of doing oneÕs work (Shanker, 1990; Solomon, 1992). It can translate age-old rhetoric about individualizing instruction into a reality (Shanker, 1990). It has permeated every other facet of our society and although it has been slow, it is changing our schools. Restructuring is intricately connected to new technology. Without integrating technology into the daily practice of teachers and students, schools are doomed. They are blacksmith shops in a horseless society that needs automobile mechanics.

References