Pointing out a serious decline in the educational attainment of the nation's youth, this discussion of ways in which technology can begin to renew and improve education in American schools argues that, just as cable television and computer teleconferencing opened communication capabilities, the microcomputer presents unlimited possibilities for educators to enhance the educational climate as they prepare students for the 21st century. It is noted that the advent of the microcomputer presents the dilemmas of how and when to incorporate new technologies into an educational program, and describes several projects sponsored by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) in the U.S. Department of Education to assist with these dilemmas. These projects include the teaching of science through such programs as the "Voyage of the Mimi," which combines educational television, microcomputer software, and printed materials in a multimedia approach; a series of school-based technology demonstration sites identified by OERI, including the Fairfax County School System (Virginia) which uses microcomputers to teach mathematics and problem-solving skills in grades 5-8 and science in grades 9-12, and plans to add word processing in grades K-12 and to provide additional teacher training in the use of microcomputers; the Computer Based Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) Approach to Compensatory Education, which is a combined effort of the Glazier Elementary School in Norwalk, California, and the University of Arizona College of Education; NETWORK, Inc., which operates in several Massachusetts school districts to assist junior and senior high school English and content area teachers in developing, field testing, and evaluating a microcomputer-based program utilizing the software, QUILL, and designed to improve secondary student writing abilities; and the identification of and dissemination of information about exemplary programs through the National Diffusion Network (NDN). (DJR)