End of Chapter Summary

Information technology is having a profound influence on the way we live and work, and it is likely to challenge many of our beliefs, assumptions, and traditions.

Factory work is declining as we enter the information age, but factories still provide us with hard goods. The automated factory uses computers at every level of operation. Computer-aided design, computer-aided manufacturing, robots, automated assembly lines, and automated warehouses combine to produce factories that need few laborers.

Far more people work in offices than in factories, and computers are critically important in the modern office. Early office automation centered on mainframes that were run by highly trained technicians; today’s office is more likely to emphasize networked PCs, and other devices for decentralized enterprise computing. So far, predictions for widespread computer-supported cooperative work and paperless offices haven’t come true.

A growing number of workers use computers to work at home part- or full-time, staying in contact with their offices through the Internet. Telecommuting has many benefits for information workers, their bosses, and society as a whole. Still, telecommuting from home is not for everybody. Satellite offices, cottage industries, and portable offices offer alternatives that may be more practical for some workers.

The impact of digital technology varies from job to job. Some jobs are de-skilled—transformed so they require less skill—while others are up-skilled into more technologically complex jobs. Experts speculate that productivity will rise as organizations adjust to new technology and develop human-centered systems adapted to the needs of employees.

Computer monitoring raises issues of privacy and, in many cases, lowers worker morale. De-skilling, monitoring, and health risks are particularly evident in electronic sweatshops— data-entry warehouses packed with low-paid keyboard operators. Many of these sweatshops have been relocated to countries with low wages and lax labor laws.

For decades, American manufacturing jobs have moved overseas. More recently, companies have moved hundreds of thousands of computer support and programming jobs from the United States to Asia where wages are significantly lower. Economists debate the extent to which globalization will affect the high-tech job market in the U.S.

The biggest problem of automation may be the elimination of unskilled jobs. Automation will almost certainly produce unemployment and pain for millions of people unless society is able to provide them with the education they’ll need to take the new jobs created by technology. Automation may ultimately force us to make fundamental changes in our economic system.

Our educational system was developed a century ago to train workers for lifelong jobs. In the information age, when students can expect to change jobs several times, we need to teach technological familiarity, literacy, mathematics, culture, communication, problem solving, and, most important, the ability to learn and adapt to an ever-changing world.

Instructional technology tools today include:

• Computer-aided instruction (CAI). Tutorials and/or drilland- practice software covering specific, concrete facts
• Programming tools. Languages that enable students to design their own software and Web pages
• Simulations and games. Artificial environments that enable students to learn through exploration, experimentation, and interaction with other students
• Productivity tools. Word processors, Web browsers, and other real-world tools
• Computer-controlled media. Presentation graphics, interactive multimedia, and authoring tools
• Tools for students with disabilities. Touch screens, alternate keyboards, and other devices that give students opportunities to use technology to learn
• Distance education tools. Network tools that enable students and teachers to communicate from afar

Technology can have a positive educational impact, but it can’t guarantee improvement. Research, planning, teacher training, community involvement, and classroom restructuring should accompany new technology.

Families use home computers for basic business applications, education, information access, communication, entertainment, and creative pursuits. All of these applications will radically change as the technology evolves.