A Step Towards the Creation of Educational Technology Standards

What's the Hype?

Every major educational organization is setting their sights on developing computer technology standards with good reason. "Generation D" (digital) learners will meet a workplace where using technology is as necessary as knowing how to read and write. The virtual office is challenging today's workplace by accounting for nearly 8% of the U.S. jobs. By 2007, 20% of the US workforce is expected to just roll out of bed to commute to work via online in a virtual office located in their home (Newsweek). Creating standards in any area of study requires a great deal of research. Most National and State Standards are established for areas of study that are subject to little change and currently possess a benchmark of some sort. Technology is a field that does not fit into either of these categories, because it changes daily.

In order to develop standards, we must first identify key skills which students will need in the future. It's not as easy as you think to ascertain the identity of these skills, because it's difficult to predict the future. Although, within the next ten years, the paradigm of workplace technology is sure to change. There are a few key technologies that corporate employees will need to have a comprehensive knowledge. To meet this challenge, we have identified key skills for consideration.

We consider all of the major technology skills students will need to fit into five major categories: Hardware, Internet Applications, Programming, Software, and Networking.

Hardware use in schools

First came the typewriter, then came the word processor, then came HTML. We now have voice activated, digital communication systems that are leading the way to more advancements in communication that are just waiting to emerge. What's next? When does it stop? The simple answer is: "It doesn't!" Technology is not only hot at this current point in time, it's driving the American and World Economy. What we consider to be the latest hardware today will in ten years be considered obselete. "Generation D" will continually adapt to this change and will need to be continually versed on the use and application of the many emerging technologies. However, in the present scheme of things, the following basic knowledge is recommended for Generation D:

1) Printers-

Students will need to understand how the CPU (i.e. connections, interfaces) directs printers. Students will also need to evaluate the cost/benefit factors attributed to different types of printing technology (i.e. ink jet vs. laser). The reason for this is because no matter how digital this world gets, we will always need to have hard copy. Basic knowledge of printers will save many future employees from panic in need-to-print situations.

2) High Density Storage-

With the advent of super high-density magnetic storage and on-line storage, this will be much less of an issue in the future. Currently, students need to be able to evaluate if optical or magnetic storage best suits their needs. Simple knowledge of storage devices will save you and your students from a great deal of head aches.

3) Scanners-

As Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software becomes more reliable, we will see an increased use of scanners in the workplace. Students will need to have a general concept of how the software works and how to operate a scanner.

4) Internet Connectivity-

In a few years, the price of high-speed connections will drop tremendously. Students will need to understand the available connection technology. Students will need to know all of their options.

5) CPU, RAM, Mother Boards (The Nuts & Bolts)-

Computer Hardware is getting to the point where even the most archaic models are dramatically out performing the software they are running. Being able to evaluate the nuts and bolts of a computer will become a less valuable skill as this trend continues and the gap widens. But it is still important to have a basic knowledge in this area in order to view things globally and problem solve when necessary.

Programming in Schools

Not everyone in the world needs to how to write common gateway interface (cgi) programs in Perl. We expect this trend to continue well into the next century.

The question remains: "What computer language should students learn?" This is impossible to answer. There are nearly as many computer languages as there are spoken languages. Each computer programming language has a unique task that it was created for. Languages also seem to come and go in the programming world. Very few languages have stood the test of time. No one language seems to be leading the way at this point in both the on and off-line worlds.

Programming will most likely never become common in corporate marketplace. But, if students were to understand mathematical logic they would be more adept to learn programming skills if required. Therefore courses like geometry, algebra, and trigonometry will service this skill well.

Software Use In Schools

It is pretty obvious that whatever piece of software students learn today will be totally obsolete in as little as two years. So why even teach using software at all? However, there are five applications that are currently the backbone of business today and they are sure to stick around. In order to better prepare students for the workplace, the following can be considered:

1) Operating Systems

Windows-based systems are the business industry standard. Who's to say what OS businesses will be running in the future. Students will need to learn the importance of an Operating System and how to manipulate it to their benefit.

2) Office Suites

Office suites are really a "group" of programs; in the past six years that definition of office has often changed. In the mid 90s, an 'office suite' was considered to be a group of programs that allowed for word processing, spread sheets, and sometimes, database entry. The term 'office suite' has grown to include web design software, presentation software, page layout design, and in some cases, graphic editors.

Office suites are key pieces of productivity software that every business oriented career is centered around. It is imperative that all students know the basic operation of these programs.

It seems that Microsoft Office seems to be the clear leader in the office suite category with Corel Word Perfect Office suite a distant second. When deciding what suite to go with, cost is usually the main issue. Schools will generally shy away from MS Office because of cost factors. However, whatever office suite used, we recommend using an older version. These versions are usually very cost effective and software manufactures only make minor changes between versions.

3) Page Layout Design Programs

This genre of software allows you to manipulate and create hard copy documents. Most educators are quick to jump at using professional quality Page Layout Programs, usually Adobe Page Maker or Quark. It some cases, this may be the correct choice if you are teaching students high end printing techniques.

In the working world, future employees will need to use these programs daily to communicate their message, but the software applications of the future will make this much easier. Broderbund, among many others, has a fantastic software package for page layout entitled "Print Shop." While this application is not the most powerful tool for this task, it is easy to use and learners pick it up quickly. Expect to see this level of software to show up in the workplace.

4) Web Editors

These are programs that make web pages without any programming knowledge. Currently, the standard language for the web is Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). The modern web editors allow you to design a web page as if you were making a document in a word processor and then it converts that document to HTML so that it can be viewed on the web.

There is a great deal of controversy as to which web editor is the industry standard. A great number of reviewers claim Microsoft's FrontPage heads above the rest. More and more, Macromedia's Dream Weaver series is gaining recognition because it is an application that is extremely powerful and supports most web browsers with ease. Adobe's GoLive is also an excellent application that works extremely well when designing graphic intensive web sites.

As time passes, a new standard web language will come of age and replace HTML. Web editors will readily adapt to this and will still work in a similar fashion that they do now, but just write it into a different language. In the future, employees at most Fortune 500 companies will be expected to communicate on and over the web. Using a web editor will be common place.