COMPUTERS, CURRICULUM AND THE LEARNING-ENVIRONMENT - KEYNOTE ADDRESS

The easy-even the cheap-part of using computers in school, college or industrial training is to buy the equipment. Long and sad experience has shown that if the training of teachers is neglected, the learning process with computers can be more costly and less effective than with traditional methods. The opposite is possible if we apply our present understanding of computers in learning. This may be achieved by making learning more practical, more experimental, by improving learners' access to learning, by focusing on higher order skills, by adapting learning to the needs of the individual, and by encouraging IT capability across the curriculum. Computers promise-or threaten-increasingly to change the way we learn. They are making activities available earlier, they enable us to bridge the gap between home and school, and will penetrate the walls around school activities through improved communications (electronic mail and electronic conferencing) and through tutoring at a distance. These developments focus our attention on the managers of schools and colleges and the IT expertise they will require to discharge their functions effectively.