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I've recently returned from Orlando and the Sixth International Conference on Technology and Education. Overall is was a good conference offering an opportunity to meet people involved in educational technology from all over the world. I have many things to say about individual bits of it, which I may do over the next few days in pieces, since they relate to various matters. The corporate sponsors were Tandy and Microsoft, so much of what was presented related to IBM compatible uses of technology. I was particularly struck by the strong interest in distance learning & networking and in artificial intelligence in education. There were many presentations about educational uses of networks, with on-line demonstrations. A particularly notable one is the just completing Worldlink project which has linked 50 US and Canadian schools with 50 overseas schools via McGraw Hill's MIX network. It appears to have been quite exciting and beneficial to participants who worked on a variety of projects together. I discovered that use of computer networks of various types in schools is becoming common in parts of the country. The New York School System has Groliers Encyclopedia (including database search capacities), a United Nation's Database, a variety of other databases, and curriculum guides available online to both students and teachers. It was a remarkably effective system, offering e-mail, mailing lists, bulletin boards and databases to a large number of people. I would be interested in hearing from others of you who may be using similar networks with teachers or students, as I am studying the most effective way to train teachers in the use of such technologies. More about other parts of the conference later. Vicki Banks Education Systems Development Michigan State University
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