Computer-based education is the use of computers for 1. Computer-Managed Instruction (CMI).-Wherein learn- 2. Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI).—Wherein the stu- Over the last decade, Federal funding for research and development (R&D) in educational information technology has dropped precipitously. At the same time, development and applications of information technology have advanced rapidly in many sectors. Public schools, beset by problems that such technology might mitigate, have lagged behind in adapting to technological changes. In view of this situation, OTA was asked in October 1980 to reexamine the potential role of new information technology in education. The assessment was initiated at the request of: 1) the Subcommittee on Select Education of the House Committee on Education and Labor; and 2) the House Subcommittee on Science, Research, and Technology of the Committee on Science and Technology. This report examines both the demands the information revolution will make on education and the opportunities afforded to respond to those demands. Included in its scope are a survey of the major providers of education and training, both traditional and new, and an examination of their changing roles. The full range of new information products and services rather than any single technology is examined, since the major impact on education will most likely stem from the integration of these technologies into instructional systems. For this report OTA has defined education to include programs provided through a variety of institutions and in a variety of settings, including public schools; private, nonprofit institutions that operate on the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels; proprietary schools; training and education by industry and labor unions; instruction through the military; and services provided through libraries and museums or delivered directly to the home. Information technology is defined to include communication systems such as direct broadcast satellite, two-way interactive cable, low-power broadcasting, computers (including personal computers and the new hand-held computers), and television (including video disk and video tape cassette). The assessment was premised on three initial observations and assumptions: • The United States is undergoing an information revolution, as documented in an OTA assessment, Computer-Based National Information Systems. • There is a public perception that the public schools are "in trouble," and are not responding well to the normal educational demands being placed on them. Public schools in many parts of the country are faced with severe economic problems in the form of rapidly rising costs and reduced taxpayer support. These pressures are forcing a new search for ways to improve the productivity and effectiveness of schooling. • A host of new information technology products and services that appeared capable of fulfilling the educational promises anticipated earlier are entering the marketplace with affordably low cost and easy accessibility. Findings OTA found that the real situation is far more complex than assumed above. In summary, the assessment's findings are: • The growing use of information technology throughout society is creating major new demands for education and training in the United States and is increasing the potential economic and social penalty for not responding to those demands. The information revolution is creating new stresses on many societal institutions, particularly those such as public schools and libraries that traditionally have borne the major responsibility for providing education and other public information services. • Information technology is already beginning to play an important role in providing education and training in some sectors. • Information technology holds significant promise as a mechanism for responding to the education and training needs of society, and it will likely become a major vehicle for doing so in the next few decades. • Much remains to be learned about the educational and psychological effects of technological approaches to instruction. Not enough experience has been gained with the new information technology to determine completely how that technology can most benefit learners or to predict possible negative effects of its use. Given this insufficient experience, caution should be exercised in undertaking any major national effort, whether federally inspired or not, to introduce these new technologies into education. C The Information Society Role of Information For the foreseeable future, information technology will continue to undergo revolutionary changes. The microprocessor-an inexpensive, mass-produced computer on a chip-will become ubiquitous in the home and office-not only in the easily identifiable form of the personal computer or word processor, but also as a component of numerous other products, from automobiles to washing machines and thermostats. High-speed, low-cost communication links will be available in such forms as two-way interactive cable, direct broadcast from satellites, and computer-enhanced telephone networks. New video technologies such as video disks and high-resolution television will be available. These technologies will be integrated to form new and unexpected types of information products and services, such as videotex and online information retrieval systems that can be provided over telephone or air waves directly to the home. It is impossible to predict which of these technologies and services will succeed in the competition for consumer dollars, or which will appeal to particular markets. It is, however, reasonable to conclude that they will radically affect many aspects of the way society generates, obtains, uses, and disseminates information in work and leisure. The growing importance of information itself drives and is driven by these rapid technological changes. Until a few decades ago, the information industry-that industry directly involved with producing and selling information and information technology-was relatively small in economic terms. It is now becoming a major component of the U.S. economy. While most economists still talk about the traditional economic sectors-extractive, manufacturing, and servicesome now have begun to define and explore a fourth, the information sector. One analysis has shown that this new sector, if defined broadly, already accounts for over 60 percent of the economic activity of the United States. Many firms involved directly with information are large and growing. Two of the largest corporations in the world, AT&T and IBM, principally manufacture information products and provide information services. Moreover, business in general is beginning to treat information as a factor of production that takes its place beside the conventional factors of land, labor, and capital. In addition, the Government is beginning to treat information as an important element of national security. While defense officials have always been concerned about the disclosure of military information-such as troop movements or weapons design-they are now also concerned about the international leakage of more general U.S. scientific and technical information that other countries could conceivably use to pursue economic or military goals that are in contrast to our own. |