Some of today's educational experts were asked to envision the year 2020, when technology has assumed a major role in elementary and secondary education. The informed conjecture that followed is contained in this volume; contributors offer visions of the future as well as specific steps that could turn those visions into realities. Innovative ideas for research, development, hardware, software, teacher training, technical assistance, organizational and cultural change are offered as a means to illuminate the potential role of technology in the educational systems of tomorrow.

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The fields of computer-assisted instruction and intelligent tutoring systems have had few vehicles for sharing ideas or programs. Different backgrounds and settings meant reading different journals and attending different conferences. The purpose of this book is to foster a mutual understanding of shared issues and contemporary approaches so as to further powerful educational applications of computing. It is unique in drawing on both the intelligent tutoring systems and computer assisted instruction communities.
Each chapter provides an in-depth discussion by leaders in these fields of...

Connected by a computer telecommunications network, ninth-graders from eight high schools scattered thousands of miles across Alaska work together, building a robot submarine to gather samples from the floor of Prince William Sound. This is high school science as some teachers and educational reformers today envision it -- centered on student projects that encourage learning by doing...supported by modern technology...enriched by collaboration among students and teachers, both face to face and far apart. This example is drawn from LabNet, a three-year effort funded by the National Science...

Highlighting and illustrating several important and interesting theoretical trends that have emerged in the continuing development of instructional technology, this book's organizational framework is based on the notion of two opposing camps. One evolves out of the intelligent tutoring movement, which employs artificial-intelligence technologies in the service of student modeling and precision diagnosis, and the other emerges from a constructivist/developmental perspective that promotes exploration and social interaction, but tends to reject the methods and goals of the student modelers....

Highlighting and illustrating several important and interesting theoretical trends that have emerged in the continuing development of instructional technology, this book's organizational framework is based on the notion of two opposing camps. One evolves out of the intelligent tutoring movement, which employs artificial-intelligence technologies in the service of student modeling and precision diagnosis, and the other emerges from a constructivist/developmental perspective that promotes exploration and social interaction, but tends to reject the methods and goals of the student modelers....

This volume centers on the words and experiences of teachers and students who used QUILL -- a software package developed by the authors to aid in writing instruction. It looks in detail at the stories of these early users and considers questions relevant for other teachers, students, researchers, and developers of educational innovations. Questions posed include: * What does it mean to develop an environment for literacy in an actual classroom? * How can a teacher create an environment in which students work together toward meaningful goals? * How can a teacher promote the rich communication...