Advanced computing and communications technologies have revolutionized the way many students learn. Elementary school students correspond with electronic pen pals around the world, learning more about faraway lands, cultures and current events than from mere lectures; students from three geographically distant high schools collaborate to simultaneously measure the distance from the earth to the sun, learning invaluable lessons in math, science, and communications; other students visit distant art museums and other educational sites via "electronic field trips." Interactive multimedia encyclopedias and other learning tools allow students to select a myriad of information -- sound, video, maps, charts, and text -- on virtually any subject.
Because of high performance computing and communications, academic research will continue to change at an increasingly rapid pace. The many collaborations of scientists in the 1990s, such as remotely sharing scientific instruments and simultaneously working on scientific problems from distant sites, will, within a few years, likely result in even more and increasingly sophisticated collaborations involving geographically diverse researchers and institutions.
For example, a National Virtual Laboratory will allow geographically distributed researchers to share experimental results, collaborate on team research projects, and share coursework for their students who are also geographically distributed. Likely collaborations will include projects that are too expensive for one institution to perform, such as research on robotic vehicles.
Simulation-based education and training will increasingly be used for on-the-job training. For example, the aircraft industry has long used flight simulators for pilot training, especially in handling emergency situations. Today, simulation is also being used in training across the field -- while aircraft are still under construction, mechanics are learning maintenance and repair via computer simulation. By the time the planes are built, these mechanics will be able to confidently and efficiently maintain and repair the craft within weeks rather than the year it used to take.
Education and the NII circa 2000
Fifteen blocks from Yankee Stadium in the South Bronx, it is the elective period for several sixth grade students in P.S. 91. They are sitting in front of computers and are wearing headphones with attached microphones.
Renaldo is studying Chinese with two dozen other students scattered around the city led by a teacher in Queens. On the screen two children say, in Chinese, "It's nine oclock." The teacher asks Renaldo to repeat the phrase. "Very good, Renaldo," she says.
At the next desk, Laverne is working on a solid waste project with Cindy, her "key pal" in Schoharie County in upstate New York. Laverne and Cindy met when Laverne posted a question on a bulletin board about recycling. Cindy lives on a farm and organized a plastic recycling program when the local dump was in danger of exceeding its capacity.
Eric is in the music section of the library assembling material for his research "paper" about Duke Ellington. He attaches pieces of a 1942 audio recording and the 1959 video clip of "A Train" to illustrate the changes in orchestration styles between those times.
Mrs. Esformes, the classroom teacher, is "attending" a seminar on teaching visually impaired children. She has a blind student this term and she is comparing her experiences and techniques with 14 other teachers from around the city who are also working with severely visually impaired students for the first time. The leader of the seminar is a professor in Madison, WI.
The NII will also aid in lifelong learning, making it more accessible to millions of Americans. Jennifer, a secretary at a small marketing firm, wants to complete her college education and receive a degree in geology. Although the small business for which she works has no formal educational assistance program, they offer to let her use their computers and network connection on her off hours. During her lunch break, for example, Jennifer is enrolled in an interactive class on soil conservation. She is able not only to listen to and see the lecture, but can ask questions via a microphone at her workstation. If other classes, however, are not offered at a time she can attend, the computer can store the transmission of the class for later viewing. Questions can be mailed electronically to the professor, who can send answers back the next day. And when it is time to write a term paper on the effects of heavy rains in the Rocky Mountains, Jennifer can electronically access databases and academic and specialized libraries around the world. She retrieves, electronically, a topographical map of the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains. Using a mouse, she moves an icon to a certain point on the ridge, and releases a drop of water to see which way it flows downhill. Using existing databases, she is able to create a scenario for the soil effects of heavy rain in the area, including the projected loss of specific minerals in the land.