If you've ever tried to find a good place for a microwave oven or dishwasher in an old house's kitchen, you can understand why it is not always easy to make new technologies work in old school buildings. And whether we understand computers or videocameras or faxes ourselves, our children must to be successful in college and in most careers. The new media centers will have places for the new technologies. The second reason students will benefit from new media centers has to do with research telling us how children learn. Not everyone learns everything best from books.
Some children have difficulties reading - the act of reading gets in the way of the information.
Children can successfully be taught the same concept using a computer program, videotape, sound recording, or book. Some materials lend themselves to visual presentations. Math becomes an enjoyable game on a computer rather than pencil and paper drudgery. The uses and devices of persuasion are more fully understood when the student has a chance to make a presentation using the videocamera. The new media centers will give students and teachers the space and resources to learn and teach in a number of ways - not just by books and reading.