UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 38, Page 5
August 6, 1992
High technology impacts on U.S. educational system

     My daughter calls my presentation Toys 'R' Bob, Bob Hughes,
corporate director of education relations for the Boeing Co. in
Seattle, said in an informal lecture/demonstration July 8 to teachers
enrolled in the Master of Instruction in Economic Education program.
     Sponsored by the Center for Economic Education, directed by James
O'Neill, the program has 22 teachers enrolled in this year's class,
representing 14 states from Delaware to California.
     The previous day, Hughes had addressed the first session of the
National Principals' Leadership Academy, at the University.
     Hughes was demonstrating new technology and discussing new trends
in education that have evolved across the country. He has crisscrossed
the nation, speaking to more than 12,000 educators at more than 300
conferences and school district workshops.
     A veteran member of a local school board in Washington state,
where he lives, Hughes said, "Bringing about change isn't easy,
whether it's in education or in industry. On the school board where I
have served for 14 years, every time I turned around, members were
trying to reinvent the schools of their youth."
     Hughes' description of the education of tomorrow is a far cry
from the classrooms of the past and the present, thanks to modern
technology and innovative ways of teaching and learning.
     Computers, compact discs, VCRs video discs and fax machines are
all having a long-lasting, tremendous impact on education. In modern
classrooms, students are learning through team projects and decision
making, plus hands-on experience involving technology, he said.
     Hughes showed some of his "toys"-a laser pointer that highlights
things on the chalk board or any part of the room; a pocket-sized,
electronic dictionary; another dictionary capable of translating
English words into several different languages; and a handheld
electronic encyclopedia.
     He demonstrated a camera that took instant pictures that then
appeared through a VCR onto a computer screen and could be printed
out.
     Hughes also demonstrated some tools at work via videos. For
instance, an adult who was improving his reading skills was shown on a
park bench with his laptop computer. Whenever he had trouble with a
word, all he had to do was ask for help, and a voice responded with
the correct answer.
     When he was through with his reading lesson, he was able to place
his newspaper on the machine which scanned it and gave him further
help in reading.
     Hughes showed a film of technology at work in the classroom. In a
music education classroom, students with earphones sat at keyboards
that simulated several instruments at the press of a button. More
advanced students jammed together, able to hear each other through ear
phones, while the instructor led them, but there were no sounds in the
classroom.
     Younger students created a five-classroom city from special
building blocks with small machines hooked to a computer command
center to make things run, such as a miniature ferris wheel. "The kids
learned how to plan, cooperate, delegate, take responsibility build
and make things work," he said.
     He showed a multimedia video on whales created by older students,
which they had researched and produced.
     "Technology is valuable, not to replace people, but to make
people more productive and to 'work  smarter,'" Hughes said. "Kids
learn things differently and technology offers them new ways of
learning."
     Today's students are less prepared for a more complex world and
education has to be re-examined and reformed because the economic
future of the country depends on it, Hughes said, but change will not
be easy. For example although he has worked on a school board, he
thinks they should be phased out, as the members are frequently not
knowledgeable about education issues.
     He talked to the teachers about economic trends and education in
such countries as Germany and Japan, comparing them to the United
States just after World War II and today.
     Hughes' presentation was one of many activities and projects in
the master's program, which also has included a visit with Wall Street
economists in New York City and those at economic think tanks in
Washington. Participating teachers have acted as consultants in
another Center for Economic Education course for Delaware teachers,
called "Delaware in a Global Economy," and they are evaluating
curriculum materials provided by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve.
     Since the master's program began in 1981, 145 teachers from
across the nation have participated.
     This year, two teachers from Delaware are taking part-Brian
Feeley from Hodgson Vocational Technical High School, and Belinda
Adlesic, an elementary teacher in the Christina School District.
     The program has received awards for innovation in economic
education, and, most recently, O'Neill was presented the Bessie Moore
Service Award for the master's program from the Joint Council on
Economic Education and the National Association of Economic Educators,
at their national convention.
                                        -Sue Swyers Moncure