Technology is a necessity, but it is also an oppor-tunity. At the most imaginative levels, it offers possibilities for the organization of education, the delivery of curriculum, and tools for inquiry and the representation of knowledge. Many of the possibilities technology offers were simply not possible in the old world of book, pencil, and paper. For instance, with new developments in telecommunications it is possible for classrooms to be in immediate contact with people and resources anywhere in the world.

Telecommunications creates the potential for all students to have access to rich content resources that before were the exclusive domain of the privileged. Probably the greatest oppor-tunity technology offers education, however, is the ways it makes new things possible. It offers opportunities to collect, visualize, analyze, manipulate, and communicate information. Probes and remote sensors, data analysis software, exploratory simulations, and multi-media presentations are just some of the technology tools that will become standard fare in future classrooms. These tools do more than enrich learning as it is currently conceived; they can actually transform it.

A decade ago, few classrooms had computers, and most students used them only in specially designated labs. In that world technology was an isolated add-on, not central to classroom or school life. Today, we seek to infuse schools with technology, that is, to enrich them with many software tools, mixing and matching technologies for a variety of functions.

Technology infusion requires a shift from a culture in which technology is occasionally present to one in which technology is a deeply accepted part of school culture. Thus, by its nature the term implies a systems perspective that encompasses a full range of classroom worlds. Multiple schools and districtwide programs and services are involved, as well as professionals with varying perspectives. Large scale technology infusion requires new resources, new positions, new structures, and new standards.

With technology, as with other important educational innovations, it is not unusual for excellent practices to flourish in small pockets across a system, and, yet when the system attempts to scale up, these good practices do not survive transplanting from the hot house in which they were grown to the larger, colder field of the system. Technology infusion is about integrating technology broadly and deeply within school systems. Unless we can do this, we will lose the means of building on the opportunities technology can offer.

If we are to meet both the necessity and oppor-tunity technology presents to education and develop technologically enriched schools and school systems, then we should pay close attention to the lessons that can be gleaned from the reform and restructuring movements, as well as the lessons from those who have been in the forefront of technology innovation. There is much here that could serve us well.

Lessons to be Applied

1. Link Technology Use to Powerful Theories of Learning

Technology can provide important opportunities for this kind of learning, if we organize its use toward those ends. Infusion implies that technology planning and implementation are driven by the goal of using technology to support reflective thinking.

2. Take a Systemic Approach

Technology infusion implies a systemic perspec-tive, and, indeed, the dangers of not taking such an approach are costly and far-reaching. A systemic approach to technology infusion requires planners to think across multiple levels, audiences, and dimensions of school systems. However, mandating or encouraging coordination among various parts of a system is not a simple matter; such cooperative efforts require much time and effort, putting aside old debates, and a reorientation toward the possibilities for change.

3. Recognize the Importance of Assumptions, Beliefs, and Attitudes

Few would disagree with the notion that future success in our society will depend upon technological skills, or that learning can be greatly enhanced by technology; still, there are many different ways of interpreting how this can be achieved, what role schools should play in this work, and what the community should contribute. Many parents may find themselves balking at visionary descriptions of educational technology, wondering, quite rightly, "Couldn't they do it with pen and paper?"; "What makes you think this is so much better than the way it used to be done?" Indeed, it is not just parents,

If schools are to realize the potential of technology, then, they must pay attention to philosophy, belief, and commonly held views about education. This foundation provides the basis on which schools and communities compose their understanding of studentsÕ technological needs and the ways those needs will be best served.

4. Provide Rich, Sustained Professional Development Opportunities

If teachers are to support students to become reflective thinkers through the use of technology resources, then teachers themselves must also have opportunities for engaging in experiences that promote this kind of learning. They, too, must have ready access to technology they can use to explore the world, analyze what they learn, and consider how it might be presented. Teachers, too, must have safe places and times for thoughtful conversation with colleagues and mentors.

5. Invite the Community into the Conversation in Meaningful Ways

Communities possess many resources that are important for the infusion effort. This includes business and planning expertise, networking capacity, technical expertise, and other material goods that can support technology infusion. In addition, the kinds of learning approaches advocated here require students to make use of the community as a laboratory for learning.

6. Build Internal Capacity with the Aid of External Expertise

7. Develop Outcomes, Assessments, and Evaluations That Match Vision and Goals

8. Recognize the Uniqueness of Schools/Systems in Change

References

Bruce, B., & Rubin, A. (1993). Electronic quills. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Herman, J. (1994). Evaluating the effects of technology in school reform. In B. Means (Ed.), Technology and education reform: The reality behind the promise (pp. 132-167). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Ruopp, R., Gal, S., Drayton, B., & Pfister, M. (1993). LabNet: Toward a community of practice. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.