Imagine a future where, while navigating through a giant virtual model of DNA, a student could arrange and rearrange the chemical model whose surfaces and atomic bonds she could actually feel.

Image copyright Diana Walczak (Kleiser-Walczak)

Everywhere one looks, technology is transforming life in the United States. We are living, shopping, working, governing, and communicating in new ways that are enabled by technology. Organizations are learning how digital technologies streamline processes, enable real-time information transactions, expand markets beyond geographic areas, and customize service offerings to the needs of consumers. These new capabilities have done more than simply make organizations more efficient; they have forced leaders to rethink markets and reengineer business structures and processes which has led to dramatic increases in productivity, quality, and performance.

But to a large extent, our education and training enterprise has been an exception to this technology revolution. The way we organize schools and provide instruction is essentially the same as it was when our Founding Fathers went to school. Many education and training institutions have simply applied technology on top of traditional teaching practices, rather than reinventing themselves around the possibilities new technologies present.

Even more powerful technologies are under development by U.S. businesses, universities, and government that could be harnessed to transform education and training in ways previously unimaginable. Rapid advancements in the years ahead could enable new learning environments using simulation, visualization, virtual worlds, personal intelligent tutors, learning and collaboration unbounded by geography, vast digital libraries and museums, and more. The technologies that are coming could create compelling learning opportunities that help students of all ages reach their potential through individualized learning and progression, provide knowledge and training when and where they are needed, while boosting the productivity of learning and lowering its cost.

Successful development and deployment of these technologies in education and training could have a profound effect on U.S. competitiveness and our standard of living. A world-class workforce is vital to the Nation’s ability to compete. But staying on top in today’s hypercompetitive knowledge-based economy means Americans must have greater and more effective access to the knowledge and skills development they need to flourish as students, employees, and citizens in a rapidly changing world.

There are many challenges in the technological innovation process that must be addressed to take advantage of these technologies to improve learning. The National Science and Technology Council’s Working Group on Advanced Technologies for Education and Training works to meet these challenges. Please explore this web site to learn more about the Working Group’s initiatives.