Information can be more readily available in a timely way to support decisions. More people can conveniently participate in certain decisions, when information is readily available to all. Moreover, in the name of spreadsheets, databases, project planners and expert systems, aids to decision-making are becoming available. New curriculum and new services are possible. Distance learning, for example, is making it feasible for students in small school districts to study Latin, calculus and other subjects which previously were too expensive to deliver to sparsely populated areas.
Cost savings occur.
Sometimes, use of new technology is simply less expensive than doing things the old way. Automated library catalog systems, for example, not only speed everyone's decision making about book use and book purchases, they speed and reduce clerical processes, reduce errors and result in less operational cost. That is the role for today's educational planners and policy-makers. Just as important, these benefits are not limited to schools. Public school educators may, if they wish, strive to influence the ways that education occurs in these many other settings.