Conference explores union of higher education, technology

Rodin, Ridge urge higher commitment to technologicalRodin, Ridge urge higher commitment to technologicaldevelopment in address to Educom in Center City University President Judith Rodin reaffirmed the University's commitment to improving the use of technology on campus during her address to the attendees of Educom '96 yesterday. Subtitled "Information Technology: Transcending Traditional Boundaries," the Educom conference, which will end tomorrow, is the largest general meeting on technology policy, trends and applications. The sessions deal with technology's impact on higher education, industry and government. "Penn remains among the leaders striving to harness the power of technology and make it work for us in the classroom and office," Rodin said to the audience of approximately 1,700. Rodin stressed the importance of interaction between information specialists and university administrators like herself. "The presidents, provosts and deans cannot make technologists do all the work," she said. Rodin reminisced about last spring's 50th anniversary of the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, known as ENIAC. The celebration was marked by Vice President Al Gore's visit to campus last February. "Who could have imagined where ENIAC would lead us -- to personal computers on every desk, high speed conductivity, distant learning and virtual reality," Rodin said. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge also addressed the audience, discussing the future of technology throughout the state. "We in Pennsylvania don't want to be in a state of haves and have-nots," he said. "We want to be in a state of have and have more." Ridge said American universities and colleges have set an international standard in terms of technology. "But good enough is not good enough in a world of changing technology," Ridge added. He noted that $1.7 billion of Pennsylvania taxpayers' money and 43 percent of the state budget is allocated to education. Ridge said technology will play an essential role in all facets of life during the next century. "In the 21st century, people will be employed not because of what they know, but because they know how to learn," he said. "When you live in a world like we do, working and learning become the same thing," he added. "On a day-to-day basis, these skills are merged." Approximately 40 faculty members from universities around the country were registered to attend the program. School of Engineering and Applied Science Computing Director Ira Winston said he learned a great deal from the conference about the modem pool situation and electronic conferencing at other universities, noting that it was especially appropriate that the conference was held in Philadelphia. "The conference and the tours of campus are a great way to show our colleagues that Philadelphia is a nice place to be and there are exciting things going on with technology at Penn," Winston said. Rodin invited those in attendance to visit Penn's campus and learn about the various ways in which the University is implementing technology, including the ENIAC Museum, the School of Arts and Sciences Music lab and technology-equipped classrooms in various schools.