Academy of Achievement Logo
Home
Achiever Gallery
Keys to Success
Achievement Store
  The Arts
  Business
  Public Service
  Science & Exploration
  Sports
About the Academy
For Teachers

Search the site

Academy Careers

 
Education in the 21st Century
 
Education in the 21st Century

Education in the 21st Century

Student Handout

PROGRAM GUESTS



JAN DAVIDSON
Ask Jan Davidson whether technology for kids makes a difference, and you soon will become a believer. "Success is a great motivator," she says. "If one of these programs makes kids more confident in their ability to learn, that will help them do well in school. The result is that they'll love learning, they'll learn the rest of their lives, and they'll take responsibility for their own learning."

Davidson is the pre-eminent pioneer of the education-software business and of what's now called edutainment. For the record, she hates the word: "I hope software does not bastardize education, which is what the word suggests." But she doesn't fight it: It's making a difference to kids and more profoundly, it's finally having an impact in schools.

These days, Jan focuses on creating the company's titles and working tirelessly as an education activist. She coaxes businesses to give more to education, goads competitors to build more educational value into their products, and prods teachers to push for change. Thanks to the popularity of edutainment titles, it's easier to get her message across. "I no longer spend time answering questions like Why would I need a computer in the classroom?'" she says. "Now, it's What's the best way to implement a computer in the classroom?'"

Next on Davidson's plate: electronic textbooks. The company has deals with several publishers. It has a contract from the giants of textbook buying California, Texas, and Florida to write a multimedia history and social-science curriculum for junior high schools. If it catches on, Davidson will once more be making a difference in the classroom 15 years after she left.

BARRY DILLER
Barry Diller is Chairman of Silver King Communications and one of the most influential forces in the American entertainment. He dropped out of both Stanford and UCLA and started his career as a mail clerk at the William Morris Agency. In 1967, he joined ABC as a programming assistant and went on to pioneer the development of made-for-TV movies and mini-series. In 1974, Diller jumped to Paramount Pictures and helped make films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and TV shows such as Taxi. He got the idea to start a fourth network, joined FOX as chairman, and created a satellite-delivered national program service to broadcast affiliates across the nation. Diller helped develop innovative, sometimes controversial programming, including In Living Color, Married with Children and The Simpsons. He then purchased the QVC Network, the home shopping cable network.

GLENN R. JONES
Glenn R. Jones is Board Chairman of Jones Intercable of Englewood, Colorado. He purchased his first cable television in 1967 with $400 borrowed against his Volkswagen. Realizing that the key to success in the cable industry was finance for the capital-intensive task of buying equipment and supporting the negative cash flows during the construction phase of new systems, Jones became the first to organize public limited partnerships to raise capital to finance cable acquisitions. His limited partnerships have raised more than $1 billion for the purchase of cable properties. Jones is one of the largest cable television operators in the United States.

BACKGROUND


The world is in the midst of a telecommunications revolution that, if successful, will forever change the way most Americans receive information and change the way Americans work. A fast, flexible information network or highway is essential for the United States to compete effectively in a global economy. On the simplest level the revolution is most evident in the merge of the computer, television and telephone. The same wires that transmit phone service can carry cable television, if the government will allow it. Driving this explosive merger are some rather simple technological advances including:

  • The ability to translate all audio and video communications into digital information;
  • New methods of storing these digitized data and compressing them so they can travel through existing phone and cable lines;
  • Fiber-optic wiring that provides a virtually limitless transmission pipeline; and,
  • New switching techniques and other breakthroughs that made it possible to bring all this to neighborhoods without necessarily rewiring every home.

Who will shape the "information highway?" What role should the government have in regulating and controlling telecommunications? Should the highway consist of a huge cable system bringing shop-at-home services and video on demand; a huge computer bulletin board; or a highway devoted to business uses? Will each consumer will be voting

with remote control?

The objective of this program is to explore what this revolution will mean to our nation and most importantly to the life of each student.

FOCUS QUESTIONS


After you watch the program, respond to these questions:

  • What are the consequences or ramifications to society of rapid, easy access to information on demand?
  • How can we begin to assure equitable access to technology for all citizens of America?

A PERSONAL HOME PAGE
Predictions indicate that the Internet will dramatically impact our lives. Already, thousands of people have posted their personal home page. Design the visual layout and content of your own home page. What information should be included? A photograph? Biography? Resume? Favorite hot links? What are the benefits and dangers of posting your own home page?

CONCLUSION: All four assignments could be collected into a portfolio or mounted for a display.

SURFING THE INTERNET


Begin to explore the Internet by trying out one or more of the sites listed below:

CAREER CORNER


Technology careers are no longer limited to programming and maintenance. Everyone entering the work force will be confronted with some aspect of technology. Unlimited opportunities exist for people with a variety of talents, skills and abilities. Here are some examples: Pick one of these employment areas that interests you and explore it as a career possibility. What does a worker in this area do on a daily basis? What educational background and work experience is necessary? Where is the work done? What are the rewards? Technology will have dramatic effects on almost all careers. As you investigate a particular career possibility, find out how technology has effected it in the past. What impact is expected in the future? You may be surprised by what you find!

  • Accounting
  • Advertising
  • Agriculture
  • Automotive Mechanics
  • Biology
  • Business Administration
  • Customer Service
  • Computer Programmer
  • Construction
  • Engineering
  • Entertainment
  • Food Service
  • Forestry
  • History
  • Journalism
  • Legal Services
  • Marketing
  • Medicine
  • Military
  • Multimedia
  • Music
  • Politics
  • Programming
  • Public Relations
  • Sales
  • Social Work
  • Sports
  • Teaching
  • Theater
  • Video Production

CYBER SOURCES


PROGRAM GUESTS (Cont'd)



GEORGE LUCAS
George Walton Lucas, Jr. was born in Modesto, California in 1944. George Lucas grew up in a typical middle class neighborhood where his early childhood has been described as a Beaver Cleaver existence. As a teenager, he discovered he had a talent for racing cars and worked hard to further develop this talent. Lucas' racing days came to an abrupt end on June 12, 1962 when he was involved in a near fatal car accident. This incident was to change Lucas' life forever. He became highly introspective and set himself on a mission to take control of his life. He decided to go to college and to study film. Lucas attended the University of Southern California where he had the opportunity to produce several short films. One student film, The Emperor, foreshadowed one of Lucas' early full feature films, American Graffiti (1973). Lucas' highly successfully career as a producer has allowed him the opportunity to pursue other projects. He started Lucasfilm to not only produce movies, but to explore the way children learn and to use this information in creating computerized educational programs. For years, Lucasfilm has been producing interactive home video cartridges and classroom multimedia discs. Currently, the company is enjoying considerable success in producing interactive computerized games. One of the biggest sellers on the PC market today is a Lucasfilms product called X-Wing. X-Wing is a space-combat simulator in which the player interacts with Darth Vadar's Imperial Forces. George Lucas' many feature film credits include THX 1138, American Graffiti, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, Willow, Howard the Duck, and True Lies. With so much to his credit, Lucas is determined to do more than just entertain. He aims to communicate a vision of an ideal world in which good ultimately triumphs over evil, and people learn to master their fate.

CRAIG 0. McCAW
Craig McCaw's communications related experience includes nineteen years in the Cable industry, eleven years in the Radio Common Carrier industry and seven years in the Cellular Radio Telephone industry. While attending high school, he began his cable education and career by working in a variety of construction, engineering and marketing positions in the family-owned business, a 4,000 subscriber cable system located in Chehalis, Washington. Since the construction of their first cable system in 1952, the McCaw family limited their operations to the Western Washington area until 1976 when they purchased Yakima Valley Cablevision. With this acquisition, the company's current growth pattern was established.

While attending Stanford University, Craig McCaw assumed a major role in the operation of the company. Operating from his base at Stanford, he maintained ongoing direct contact with the family's Washington-based cable system, making day-today decisions regarding all phases of its complex operation. By his own admission, nearly one-third of his college career was devoted to cable television. He analyzed and studied the industry in depth, researched existing and newly-developing technical information, consulted with numerous communications experts and gained invaluable first-hand knowledge of the industry by visiting numerous cable systems in Oregon Washington and California. He pursued potential franchise opportunities while still in college and began running the family cable operation on a full-time basis in 1973 immediately after graduation from Stanford. Since then and under the direct control of Craig McCaw, McCaw Communications emerged as one of the leaders and innovators in the cable industry. In 1974, seeing another communications opportunity, McCaw positioned the company to enter the Radio Common Carrier (RCC) industry. Today, a little more than a decade later, McCaw Communications finds itself as one of the nation's largest RCC operators. In 1981, again at the forefront of another emerging technology, McCaw established his company as one of the significant early players in the cellular radio telephone industry. McCaw's quest for excellence and success in the cellular industry has been rewarded from the onset. McCaw currently holds a majority interest in the largest cellular service company in the nation.

Today, as Chairman of the Board and CEO, Mr. McCaw's principal duties in the company have shifted from basic day-to-day operating decisions to long-term planning of operation and financial growth, and the implementation of these plans. Under McCaw's direction, a management team has been developed to recognize the value of employee input and development as well as good customer/community relations. This team is dedicated to the professionalism that has helped establish McCaw Cellular Communications' excellent reputation within the telecommunications industry.

BRIAN L. and RALPH J. ROBERTS
Brian L. Roberts started the hard way in the cable TV business, climbing poles to string cable for new subscribers' homes. As the boss's son, however, he survived that summer job. In 1990, he was named president at the tender age of 30. Today, Comcast is the nation's fourth-largest cable TV operator, and 1993 cash flow of $606 million. As much for its assets, the company is admired for the father-son team at the helm of its graceful preparation of the next generation of managers. At 74, founder Ralph J. Roberts still controls 78% of the company's voting stock. He is wealthy (with a net worth exceeding $400 million). He's also the envy of many businessmen because he has an heir so eager and well-equipped to run the company. In the last two years, Brian Roberts has championed a series of deals that look quite smart, and he is emerging as one of the cable industry's ablest executives. At 34, he has a knack for spotting new opportunities and enlisting his father to clinch a deal. At his instigation, Comcast became an early investor in Nextel Communication Inc.'s new national wireless network. And it was he who initiated a successful effort to recruit MCI Communications as an equal partner in that venture four months ago, prompting the stock to soar. In 18 months, Comcast's stake more than quintupled in value to nearly $1.1 billion.

Impressed by the father-son team, some moguls have sent their own children to Comcast for advice. Brian Roberts credits his father's courteous, optimistic nature for easing the way: "He's never going to put you down. You're entitled to youthful enthusiasm and youthful mistakes."