The paper affirms the necessity to incorporate new technology and new assessment techniques into any restructuring of the way the Florida state system of public schools now functions at the local school level. If the intent of public education is to prepare students to become thinking, contributing members of the 21st century, teachers not only must prepare the students to use the tools, but also not allow technological advancement to overwhelm them and stifle their "humanness." In this context, the arts are a curricular necessity because they provide fertile ground for cultivating in students those "high touch" sensibilities and values that the community intuitively feels are essential for living full and productive lives in an increasingly "high tech" environment. The document examines the way in which technology in the arts classrooms, when properly structured, teaches, enhances, and reinforces opportunities for creative problem solving, critical thinking, self-discipline, responsibility-taking, work ethics, and aesthetics sensibilities. (DQE)