Visions of the future: education and technology in the 1990s and beyond. (includes related article on National Foundation for the Improvement of Education initiative to explore the potential of technology)

Joan of Arc heard voices. Martin Luther King, Jr., had a dream. The educators you are about to meet on the next seven pages have visions. Visions reflective of current conditions in U.S. schools and indicative of the directions education and educational technology might follow into the 1990s and beyond.

We've asked these 15 educators-among them, Christa McAuliffe Educators, teachers, technologists, deans, and others-to share their concepts of education in two specific ways. First, we asked for their version of the "ideal" classroom for the upcoming decade. For that, they envision everything from a schooner to a computerized world library to a climate-controlled, inviting environment. Second, we asked them to devise a "wish list" of technologies-real or imagined-that they would like to see used in education in the 1990s. The list includes an equally diverse range, from a solar-powered laptop to a heart on fire to an ordinary rotary telephone for every teacher's desk.

As educators, you know that the possibilities for learning and teaching in this next decade are endless. We hope, like us, you'll be surprised, amazed, amused, and especially attentive to the voices of these educators, who we believe represent a solid cross-section of American education.

EILEEN STEELE

Computer Resource Teacher, Lafayette Schools Corp. (K-12), Lafayette, Ind.

"For me, the concept of the ideal classroom is ... maybe 'classroom' is not the right terminology. I'd rather say a learning setting. Which includes students of various ages in one setting, working on themes or areas of common interest. It should provide an appreciation for individual differences and individual strengths, and utilize technology as tools to help students master those things they have difficulty with. But beyond that, the technology is used as tools for students to create and share their own information. The technology should not be a prominent feature. It is not something that should jump out at you. You should be able to walk into the classroom and say What a wonderful human environment this is!' I want it to be a warm, human, caring environment that happens to have technology that allows it to be that.

"I am most concerned with having tools that will allow students to be creative and to be able to produce. I envision technologies that make video recording, digitizing of sound, and editing at a personal computer commonplace. The whole notion of hypermedia is absolutely essential for allowing people to pursue their interests and communicate their interests to others. And, I'm really excited about this whole notion of holographic teleconferencing: being able to bring images of people that can talk and speak to me and my students right into the room without them actually having to travel great distances."

ALAN NOVEMBER

Computer Applications Specialist (K-12), Wellesley Middle School, Wellesley, Mass.

A schooner. Every kid ought to get on a boat and see the world; and have telecommunications there, of course. Short of that, I think schools ought to be open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. And kids ought to be very involved in something called the Community Technology Consulting Office,' where they are lined up with clients from the community. Of course, the community could be anywhere in the world; kids in my community could be helping Native Americans figure out if something they are producing in Alaska will sell in Boston. So it's a Global Village. The role of kids completely changes from that of being warehoused' for 12 years while we feed them information, to one where they become essential to the community, and where they play an important role in helping people, especially with technology. And every classroom would be connected to that Consulting Office in some way. So that students can begin to appreciate that schools are places that truly value their contributions. Right now, students don't feel that. Also, I'm incredibly disappointed at how we haven't really applied technology to schools, to date.

"I need a cognitive map. I need to know how students make decisions, and how they think, and where they have…