Through the years technology has provided tools that enhance and expand all the arts disciplines. For example, drawing pencils, musical instruments, stage lights, and recorded media are all forms of technology. Computer and multimedia technology broaden the possibilities in the arts. Many computer programs are available for composing music, developing animation, analyzing works of art, creating graphic designs, designing sets, writing choreography, computerizing stage lighting and scenery, and playing electronic instruments. Further, telecommunications allow the sharing of all of these developments with a larger audience. For example, students across the United States can collaborate on playwriting or choreographing a dance on-line. Two students can improvise jazz together, one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast. Visual art can be shared around the world and be revised or added to by students in diverse settings.

Electronic technologies extend the horizons of the arts in directions not yet imagined. The arts community welcomes the opportunities that technologies present. Before technology made electronic recording a possibility, all music was played for a live audience. The vast expansion in musical experience that recordings brought is being replicated by similar breakthroughs in new electronic technology. Student field trips to private and public art collections and museums are a valuable experience for students. Now telecommunications allows students to visit museums and art collections any place in the world through the World Wide Web (WWW) and the Internet.

Technology remains what it has always been -- a tool. But is is a tool that can enlarge the scope of the arts beyond anything known at the moment. Although no one can accurately predict the future, technology will continue to play an important role in the arts and in arts education of the future. The use of technology throughout the grades is essential to enhance student learning of the arts, to enfranchise the imagination, and to expand human expression through the arts. (See Chapter 2 for additional information on technology in the arts.)

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