July 27, 2008
TECHNOS QUARTERLY Winter 2002 Vol. 11 No. 4
Editorial
Of Victories and Ventures
By
Michael F. Sullivan, (former) Executive Director, Agency for Instructional
Technology
Both TECHNOS and its publisher ride off into the sunset with this issue. We’ve had a great run and pushed hard to have technology fulfill its promise to education.
It is time to declare victory. Technology is ubiquitous in education. Ninety-nine percent of all schools have Internet access. Computers are everywhere and purchased routinely. Computer technology is not even discussed in the way it was once, as some new opportunity to be grasped. It is a part of the landscape, like asphalt, pickup trucks, and McDonald’s.
In one of my first editorials, I suggested (strongly, of course) that every superintendent should have basic computer skills. That is so obvious today that it sounds almost silly. Being computer literate is as important and common today as being able to read or do basic arithmetic. Frankly, I think the computer revolution is over — and the computer won. There is no “new ” technology beyond the computer and little reason to engage in discourse about the old stuff.
TECHNOS has served its purpose and will become an online resource for those needing specific information. AIT ’s new venture, The Learning Source, will consider many topics in addition to technology. We hope that our loyal readers will go online and check it out. We really have felt that we were part of a special, caring community, and we would love to maintain that feeling.
As for the publisher, he is moving to Arizona. I still have a crusade to wage, but I will now turn my attention to the sorry state of personal financial responsibility in this country. There will be technology in this crusade, and schools will be challenged. In fact, there may even be a journal! I hope in ten years that I can announce that another battle is over and another victory won.
Michael Sullivan served as AIT’s executive director and chief operating officer from July 1990 to January 2003.