Learning about Tasks Computers Can Perform. Cellular and fiber-optic technology would make corded telephones obsolete. Beepers would have both telephone and television capabilities. All bills would be paid, stocks and bonds bought and sold, and travel reservations made directly from home computers. These and many other technological advances are already available in business, industry, science, and the military.
Limited budgets dampen the speed at which expensive technology can be acquired in schools.
Now, slowly but surely, these advances are appearing in the educational arena. They can create multimedia presentations using computers to combine text, graphs, charts, digital images, photographs, slides, real-time video, and sound. Students today are in the midst of an explosion of academic information that is there for the asking. Through computer technology, students can assume more responsibility for their own learning. They can explore areas of interest and discover more about a topic on their own in a way that seems more fun than a regular class discussion.