As citizens of advanced but vulnerable economies， we must either relentlessly increase the quality of our skills or see our standard of living erode. For the future， competition between nations will be increasingly based on technological skill. Oil and natural resources will still be important， but they no longer will determine a nation’s economic strength. This will now be a matter of the way people organize themselves and the nature and quality of their work. Japan and the “new Japans” of East Asia are demonstrating this point in ways that are becoming painfully obvious to the older industrial countries.
Today’s competition renders obsolete① huge chunks② of what we know and forces us to innovate. For each individual， several careers will be customary， and continuing education and retraining will be inescapable. To attain this extraordinary level of education， government， business， schools and even individuals will turn to technology for the answer.
In industry， processing the information and designing the changes necessary to keep up with the market has meant the growing use of computers. The schools are now following close behind. For example， already some colleges in the United States are requiring a computer for each student. It is estimated that 500，000 computers are already in use in American high schools and elementary schools. Although there is an abysmal③ lack of educational software，the number of computers in schools expands rapidly.
The computer is the Proteus of machines，as it takes on a thousand forms and serves a thousand functions. But its truly revolutionary character can be seen in its interactive potential. With advanced computers； learning can be individualized and self-paced. Teachers can become more productive and the entire learning environment enriched.
It is striking how much current teaching is a product of pencil and paper technology. With the computer’s capacity for simulation and diverse kinds of feedback④，all sorts of new possibilities open up for the redesign of curriculums. Seymour Papert，the inventor of the computer language LOGO，believes that concepts in physics and advanced mathematics can be taught in the early grades with the use of computers. He cites as an example the teaching of the laws of motion in physics， which he says are accessible at an early age when a computer is used to assist in the instruction.
On an everyday level， word-processing significantly improves the capacity for written expression. It can be improved by making it easier to revise and rewrite. In terms of drill and practice，self-paced computer-assisted instruction enables the student to advance rapidly—without being limited by the conflicting needs of the entire class. One handy example of how classroom practices can change is the replacement of the slide rule by the pocket calculator.
Today，formal education primarily consists in memorizing data—data that is now easily retrievable⑤ by computer or accessible through data banks. The challenge for educators is to restructure the curriculum to make maximum use of the new technologies so that students can learn better and prepare themselves for the information-rich world they now confront. Once we learn to use this new brain outside the brain， education will never be the same.
Industry， faced with the pressures of a rapidly shifting market， is already designing new methods to retrain its workers. For example， in the United States， a technological university has been established to teach engineering courses by satellite. Soon the advances in telecommunications and computational power will dramatically expand the opportunities for national and international efforts in education and training.
Without romanticizing⑥ the machine， it is clear that computers uniquely change the potential for equipping today’s citizens for the unprecedented tasks of the future. Particularly in Europe and the United States， innovation will be the basis of continued prosperity. New competitors are emerging to challenge the old economic arrangements. How successfully we respond will depend on how much we invest in people and how wisely we employ the learning tools of the new technologies.
① obsolete v. 废弃，淘汰
② chunkn. 相当大的部分(或数量)
③ abysmaladj. 极度的
④ feedbackn.［电子］［生］反馈，(信息等的)返回，反馈的信息
⑤ retrievableadj. 可取回的，可恢复的
⑥ romanticize v. (使)浪漫化，(使)传奇化
计算机的功效
作为经济上先进但又脆弱的国家的公民，必须始终不懈地提高技术质量，否则生活水平就会下降。在未来，国与国之间的竞争将越来越以工艺技术为基础。尽管石油和其他自然资源将仍然重要，它们却不会再对一个国家的经济实力起决定作用。这就是现在人们如何组织他们自己并使工作的性质和质量如何有机地结合起来的问题。日本以及东亚的几个 “新日本”正在显示出这一点，而这种显示的方式对历史较久的工业国家来说是怵目惊心的。
当今的竞争使得我们大部分的知识变得陈旧，非加以革新不可。对每个人来说，他们将惯常从事某几种职业，并将不可避免地继续进修和重新接受训练。为了达到这种非同一般的教育水平，政府、工商业部门，学校甚至个人都将求助于技术以解决问题。
在工业方面，处理信息和制定必要的改革计划以适应市场的需要意味着越来越多地使用计算机。学校现今正在紧跟工业部门之后。例如，美国已有一些学院要求每个学生都有一台计算机。美国中小学使用的计算机已达到50万台。虽然数学上用的软件十分紧缺，学校的计算机数量却迅速增加。
计算机是一种变化多端、神通广大的机器，因为它显示一千种图象，发挥一千种功能。但它真正革命的特性能够在其相互影响的潜力方面表现出来。有了先进的计算机，学习就可以个别进行，速度可以自行规定。老师会变得更有成效，整个学习环境会显得丰富多采。
令人吃惊的是，当前的教学在很大程度上还是铅笔和纸张技术的产物。由于计算机能够实行模拟和提供各种反馈，它就为重新设计学校的课程开辟了一切新的机会。计算机语言(标识语)的发明家西摩·佩伯特认为，由于利用计算机，在学校的低年级就能教授物理学和高等数学的概念。他援引教授物理学方面的一些运动定律为例，说明当计算机用于辅助教学时，学生在幼年就能够理解这些定律。
在日常生活中，文字处理能有效地提高书面的表达能力。要想提高，只有使它更便于修改和重写就可以了。就训练和练习来说，借助于计算机的自行规定速度的方法能使学生突飞猛进，不受全班学生互有矛盾需要的限制。能够怎样改革课堂实习的一个简便的事例是用袖珍计算器代替计算尺。
当今的正规教育主要包括记忆资料，而这些资料现在通过计算机或资料库就能轻而易举地重新得到。对教育工作者提出的要求，就是要调整学校的课程来最大限度地使用新的技术，以便学生能够学得更好，并为他们现在所面临的信息丰富的世界而早作准备。一旦学会使用这个脑外的新脑，教育工作就将彻底改观了。
面对瞬息转变的市场的压力，工业部门已经在制定重新训练工人的新方法。例如，在美国，一所通过卫星传授工程学课程的工业技术大学已经建立起来。在电讯和计算能力方面的进展不久将引人注目地扩大国家和国际在教育和训练上作出努力的机会。
不必用浪漫主义的手法来形容计算机，我们就可以清楚地看出，它是独一无二地改变着那种使今天的公民能担当起未来空前任务的潜力。尤其在欧洲和美国，革新将是继续繁荣的基础。新的竞争对手正在崛起，向旧的经济布局挑战。我们如何才能顺利地应战，将取决于我们对人的投资多寡，同时也将取决于我们怎样巧妙地利用新技术的学习工具。
