vironments compare, and what areas in the ecological description of each will contribute to a new understanding of the uses of communication and technology to improve the respective environments. The paper will begin with a short review of the literature on the work and educational environments, and will then address the issues of division of labor, and the way that technology has impacted on the work environment itself. The paper will then turn to the educational environment, and address similar questions about the ecology of the educational system, and the way technology has impacted in that environment. Finally, the paper will conclude with an assessment of pragmatic support systems from the business world to the educational environment, and will then comment on some probable directions for the future.
Since people generally spend a large percentage of their waking hours in the work environment, it follows that it is important to optimize that area to increase efficiency. The effect of the work environment is based on something called the "Hawthorne Effect," and indicates that a change in the physical conditions of work may improve the moral, and thus productivity, of the corporation or factory. Basic improvements can be as simple as light, area, motion, temperature, and physical exertion, but may be as complex as body language, color, and communication procedures within the workplace (Poulton, 1979). Conceptualizations of system design and implementation often enter into the equation regarding work environments, and technological considerations may also impact on the efficiency and general feeling of the area (Becker, 1981). Added to this there are, of course, significant philosophical and ethnical considerations surrounding the work environment, and indeed point to the overriding significance that work will almost inevitably require for most people in modern society (De Keyser, et.al., 1988).
The school environment is ...