ERIC Number: ED265405
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1983-Apr-8
Pages: 22
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Work and Programmable Automation.
DeVore, Paul W.
A new industrial era based on electronics and the microprocessor has arrived, an era that is being called intelligent automation. Intelligent automation, in the form of robots, replaces workers, and the new products, using microelectronic devices, require significantly less labor to produce than the goods they replace. The microprocessor thus makes it possible to have economic growth without increasing employment. Microprocessors and robots have altered and will continue to alter significantly the nature and character of work. If work is to serve human beings in their personal development, it seems imperative that they control the nature and character of their technical means so they contribute to, rather than detract from, the human quality of life. The institution of education has a responsibility to help people know and understand more about technical means and the relation of these means to social purpose, themselves, their work, the environment, and their future. The development of the microprocessor and other technical means forces a reassessment of traditional, institutionalized approaches. Education must focus on the future, learning how to learn, lifelong learning, and the skills associated with these processes which enable humans to reprogram themselves to do what they have not been trained to do. (YLB)
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Spring Conference of the Industrial Relations Research Association, West Virginia Chapter (Charleston, WV, April 8, 1983).