Learning and Leading - February 2009

Occasionally I think that the progress has been disappointingly slow. However, for the most part, I have been quite optimistic throughout the years. I always feel that the best is yet to come. Even now, I feel that the field is just barely emerging from infancy!

technically oriented workers…. The high-touch aspects of our society have considerably different characteristics. High touch refers to people skills such as knowledge of self, knowledge of others, and good abilities to use this knowledge. High touch relates to getting along with others, which is essential since high tech has led to weapons of mass destruction.”

Tech fact: Compaq beats IBM to the market with the Deskpro 386, the first computer to use Intel’s 80386 chip, a 32-bit microprocessor with 275,000 transistors on each chip. The chip gave PCs as much speed and power as older mainframes and minicomputers.

In the world: The space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing the entire crew, including teacher Christa McAuliffe. The world’s worst nuclear accident occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant north of Kiev, Ukraine.

Moursund: “Education would be better…

…if teachers had more status in our society.

…if our society valued education more.

…if there were more money and better pay.

…if teachers were more professional.

…if teachers were life-long learners.

…if teachers had the opportunity to visit each other’s classes and to observe master teachers at work.

…if more and better inservice opportunities were available.

…if administrators and school boards would let teachers teach and quit in-

terfering so much—for example, quit assigning teachers so many nonteaching duties.”

Tech fact: A computer worm named Morris unleashed by a Cornell University graduate student clogs 6,000 university and military computers but causes no real damage.

In the world: The United States bans smoking on flights shorter than two hours. Mikhail Gorbachev becomes president of the Soviet Union. A magnitude 6. 9–8.0 earthquake kills up to 55,000 people in northern Armenia.

Moursund: “In my opinion, our educational system is poised on the brink. Massive change agents such as distance education, computer-assisted learning, transportation of students, and corporation-run schools could lead to massive, relatively rapid, revolutionary changes in our current system.”

Tech fact: The Hubble space telescope sends back its first photographs. Microsoft releases Windows 3.0.

In the world: Nelson Mandela is released from a South African prison after being detained for 27 years as a political prisoner fighting against Apartheid. McDonald’s opens its first restaurant in Moscow. The Persian Gulf War begins.

Moursund: “It takes many years of training and experience to achieve one’s full potential in any area of academic endeavor. Students who have good access to computers at home and routinely use them for communication, information retrieval, problem solving, playing intellectually challenging games, studying, and so forth

will gain a significant advantage over students who only have access to computers at school.”

Tech fact: Apple introduces the Power Macintosh, which uses the PowerPC chip co-developed with IBM and Motorola. The PowerPC processor puts the Macintosh on par with Intel’s newer processors.

In the world: Nelson Mandela becomes the first black president of South Africa. Some 100,000 men, women, and children flee ethnic slaughter in Rwanda. Israel begins its final withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Moursund: “Consider a scenario 20 years in the future: Every student has a personal portable microcom-puter for use at home and at school. Wireless connectivity to local and worldwide networks is provided in every classroom. A wide range of software tools and educational software is available to every student. Computer-assisted learning and distance education are routine parts of the teaching and learning environment, both at school and at home. These methods of instructional delivery provide access to instruction in the full range of coursework that is appropriate to K– 12 students. The combined power of current hardware and software supports high-quality voice-input systems. Tool and educational software are both ‘intelligent’—that is, they reflect the steady progress that has been occurring in artificial intelligence.”