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Editor's Introduction

by Netiva Caftori

CPSR News Volume 15, Number 1: Winter 1997

Dear readers,

It is with a great pleasure that I welcome you to a variety of articles written mostly by CPSR members concerned about the education of our youth in this era of fast-advancing technology.

Many schools have already taken the plunge into the new sea of technology innovations, while others are still on the shore because they lack tools or have a fear of getting wet or drowning.

Whether the teachers are ready or not, our youth have voted for jumping in, and they are doing it, with the support of computer software and hardware companies. There is a revolution going on, and educators, as well as computer professionals who are interested in socially responsible use of the technology, must recognize, monitor, and act to give shape to the integration of technology in the curriculum.

For years, many have attempted to reform the educational system and failed, but perhaps technocrats will succeed. My greatest fear is that the change will only be on the surface - only in the tools used - and not the actual delivery. We have the potential for great reform, but very careful attention has to be given to cooperation between educators and technologists so that together we can do the job well.

The issue starts off with Steve Miller's overview of the progress of our educational technology throughout this century. Ginny Little,teaches high school youth as no one could only a few years ago to appreciate the art of writing and reading within a virtual classroom. She is learning as much from the youth as they are. Dave Cornell describes gender bias in the design of 'edutainment' and proposes ways to give girls access to level playing fields.

John Graves demonstrates that children learn more outside of schools than in them because of the easy access to information outside the classroom, while I argue for the need for teachers to adopt a collaborative style of learning in place of traditional pedagogical techniques. Marsha Woodbury describes a a new distance education system at UIUC. Chris Bigum and Ralf Streibel give us overseas perspectives from Australia and Germany criticizing the Internet and the US influence.

Our authors raise more questions than any of us has answers for. Clearly there is much opportunity for computer professionals to bring ethics and social responsibility into the debates about how technology will be used in the classroom. If any of this raises your hackels, and motivates you to get involved in education technology issues, consider joining our new Education Working Group, described by Robin Burke.

I especially would like to thank James Salsman, Robin Rice, Chris Kolar, and Elizabeth Buchanan for the superb job of reviewing that all four did during this past holiday season. Without them this newsletter would not be here so early.

Enjoy the issue!...Netiva

Return to Table of Contents, Winter 1997 CPSR Newsletter

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