Information technology is everywhere, but not enough of it is in our
colleges and universities.
We couldn't imagine designing an automobile without the aid of computers
and we wouldn't build one that didn't include several, if not hundreds,
of microprocessors. The federal government and private industry have
begun the research and development to embed information age intelligence
into the nation's highways through "smart road" technology.
Our nation's communications networks are controlled by computers, and
our long-distance networks are rapidly shifting from preponderantly
voice to data traffic. Computers are sold "multimedia ready," and those
multimedia applications have begun to transform our communications
networks, hastening the switch from current over-the-air broadcast
activities to fiber optics and cable and from wired telephony to
wireless by way of increasingly sophisticated cellular and satellite
capabilities. We are witness to the total reorganization of the
information industry as heretofore separate and distinct enterprises
ranging from film and recording studios to cable and telephone companies
in the industry�s search for new synergies and integration in order to
cope with the merger of voice, video, and data.
From automated teller machines and on-line credit checks to numerically
controlled lathes and assembly line robotics, the nation's economic
well-being rests on the pervasiveness and ubiquity of the computer and
computer networks. In the modern back office, administrative functions
are totally dependent upon computers, computer networks, and a computer-
literate workforce. Today, we are surprised if we find an information-
intensive office in which some employees do not have a personal computer
on their desk.
But what about the most information intensive of all tasks--education?
More than a decade after the development of the personal computer, we
have vigorous competition for the desktop (and the laptop). A commodity
market for personal computers means that a computer could be purchased
with just about any characteristics of power and cost desired. The
plain vanilla machine has settled in at about $1500�$1800. For that
price you get some minimal networking capability, the processing power
of the mainframe of six or seven years ago, and a relatively intuitive
graphical interface.
And yet, the personal computer is still used primarily as an adjunct to
teaching. We continue to think of the personal computer as something we
put in what we euphemistically call "labs," gathered together in groups
of twenty or forty for the sake of administration, and to which we send
learners for a weekly dose of computing.
We are beginning to see a number of tools�gopher, Wide Area Information
Server, and Worldwide web�that make access to the increasingly rich
information services on the Internet easy as well as economical.
Faculty who have tried electronic mail as a means of keeping touch with
their students have, in large measure, been extraordinarily positive
about it. Students are likewise nearly unanimous in their praise for
the use of electronic mail as well as bulletin board, listservlike
electronic discussions.
But, without "anytime, anywhere" access to our information networks, the
impact on the learning process is destined to be marginal. Without
access to high- bandwidth communication links (multimegabit service),
multimedia applications in education will languish.
Many of the most exciting concepts in today's multimedia world of
computing and communications were invented, developed, and pioneered in
the research laboratories of our nation's institutions of higher
education. The Internet, TCP/IP protocols, and ultimately, the National
Information Infrastructure would not exist without aggressive support by
postsecondary educational institutions.
But what has become commonplace in our commercial and industrial
organizations, what has become one of the focal points of the current
administration in Washington, and what is now absolutely critical to
much of the research being conducted in our institutions of higher
education is noticeably absent from our nation's learning venues.
The shoemaker's children have no shoes.
Why have we not reached the point where every student in our
institutions of higher education has his or her own computer? Surely it
can't be a cost issue. The last time I checked, the average college
student spent $200 a semester on books. Assuming that students manage
to graduate in four years (nationally fewer than half make it in that
time) they will spend more than $1500 for textbooks. That's about the
cost of a pretty fair personal computer.
It is time that our institutions give up the industrial age model of
personal computers in laboratories and move aggressively to the
expectation that every student will come to school prepared with at
least a minimally configured personal computer.
Robert C. Heterick, Jr., is president of Educom. [email protected]