Submitted February 14, 1996
The allure of geographically expansive information networks is two-fold. Engineers are drawn by the challenge of rapidly advancing communication technology. However, the technological details of the communication revolution will pass unnoticed by the majority of the users of future networks. The typical user will primarily be interested in the innovative services which were never before conceivable, let alone feasible. The simultaneous involvement of organizations at both distinct levels of development demonstrates the synergism of technology and service. For example, Merit Network has been involved in the development of the Michigan internet backbone and also provides Internet resources to Michgan schools through a dial-in project and hot-list of web sites for educators and students.
Education is by definition the transmission of knowledge and information; it is a fundamental service which ideally impacts every individual regardless of nationality. Education will benefit from engineering efforts to make complex, expansive networks commonplace. The initial stages of the transformation of education delivery focus primarily on targeting participants, investing in equipment, establishing connections, and training educators to use the new resources. A catalog of selected case studies, compiled by Fujitsu Business Communications, is available on-line as Technology in Education: Research & Case Studies. Eventually recommended guidelines for classroom curricula, a typical area for debate in public school systems, may be replaced with detailed on-line lesson plans. The notion of school choice would have a completely different meaning if all publicly funded schools were following the same daily lesson plans.
Technology, however, is not a panacea for the multitude of problems associated with the provision of education services (including funding, equitable access, teacher training, community valuation, parental involvement, and student motivation). In particular, extensive resources and services provided to all schools with sufficient equipment and training to access them contribute nothing to communities without the equipment. Disparity in resources will result in a technology gap between the communities that can and cannot afford innovative equipment. This would only aggravate existing problems of equitable delivery of education services. Local government and state boards of education must begin planning programs and allocating funds now to ensure that disadvantaged communities don't fall behind in the technology race. If government intervention results in access for all schools to adequate equipment, curricula content would still present significant challenges. While technology can facilitate efficient delivery of uniform educational curricula, uniformity may not be a desirable characteristic of a service which is supposed to address the needs of diverse communities and individuals. This concern can be assuaged (as can the apprehensions of classroom instructors) by the suggestion that nationally- or internationally-accessible interactive instruction will prove most constructive when used in conjunction with on-site classroom discussion; information unaccompanied by tailored instruction and guidance does not guarantee knowledge and wisdom. In addition, all of the remote technology in the world may not be enough to meet the demand for classroom disciplinarians. Since it is easy to imagine a world where adults are troublemakers as well children, this role will be in demand at all levels of education.
The delivery of education programs will be altered in unfathomable ways by
advances in telecommunication networks. The development of broadband,
switched, digital networks will change the concept of education for
students of all ages. Education will tangibly and conceptually extend
beyond the classroom. Curricula, class materials, lectures, interactive
tutoring, and discussion groups could all be accessible from the home,
empowering parents to be teachers, bringing together remote communities,
and allowing students to pursue their own interests (in addition to
supervised instruction) at their own pace and practically without bounds.
The potential for integrating education and life and diverse communitites
makes future networks interesting and promising. The social
implications of this new technology, however, are as unpredictable as were
the effects of the telephone, automobile, and airplane. Research and
developmental efforts (such as Web
66 in Minnesota, EDUCOM, ESU3 in Nebraska, and EdWeb) foreshadow the extent to
which classrooms will be transformed as school systems embrace and
implement network technology. They provide little information, however,
on the limits of this transformation.
Submitted February 14, 1996