The Electronic Classroom

Current computerized electronic technology is making possible, not only the broad and rapid distribution of information, but also its manipulation, analysis, synthesis, and recombination. The shift from print to a combination of visual and oral expression is being propelled by the mass media, and visual literacy is both a concept and an educational movement. Computer-based intelligent tutoring systems hold the promise of individualizing instruction on a scale not seen since the emergence of the printed book. The advent of intelligent tutoring systems could turn the educational environment into a learner's market, and conventional instruction faces a formidable competitor in computer-based individualized instructional technology. Although electronic media will not supplant print technology, electronic information communication has the potential to make the ordinary person capable of superior performance as it becomes the means of knowledge dissemination in the global classroom. (Contains 24 references.) (SLD)