Why Are We Doing This? by Michael Tempel
	© 1988 Logo Foundation

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting on an airplane on the way from the ECCO conference in Cleveland to the CUE conference in San Jose, preparing for a workshop I was conducting at the NYSCATE conference in Syracuse. I began to have second thoughts about the whole idea of educational technology conferences. I wondered if there was any historical precedent for having organizations of educators that focus on technology rather than on some subject area or professional specialty.

After spending a week at the 42nd Street Branch of the New York Public Library I managed to locate a fragment of the program of the Ninth Annual BUE Conference which was held in Frankfurt in 1487. It gives an indication of the kinds of sessions and workshops that were of interest to Book Using Educators:

Books in the Elementary Mathematics Curriculum
Although books are most often associated with language arts, social studies and, of course, religion, there are also uses for books in the mathematics class. This eyes-on workshop will explore some possibilities in arithmetic and geometry. Enrollment is limited so that there will be a maximum of two participants per book.

Technology Update
This session provides an overview of recent advances in book technology including double sided high density pages, mixing illustrations with text and the use of automatic page turners.

A Report on the GCOT Project
The Gutenburg Classroom Of Tomorrow project, funded by the Gutenburg Press, is an experiment in the high density use of books in school. In eight selected classrooms there is a book for each child to use whenever needed. Each student also has a second book for use at home during the entire school year

Hand Held Note Pads
What note pads lack in storage capacity and page size, they make up for in portability and low cost. This sessions will explore ways of using note pads for note taking during lectures and for quick computation. We will also describe techniques for transferring information from notepads to standard desk top books.

Page Numbering, Bug or Feature?
The recent invention of page numbering and indexing has made information retrieval almost effortless. But will this inhibit the development of research skills among our students? Should page numbers be banned from school books?

Keynote Speech: Books, Do we Need Them?
Dr. Karl Schmit, Superintendent of Schools, Wiesbaden ISD

I found no record of other BUE conferences until 1502 although they apparently were held annually since I did locate part of the minutes of the meeting of the BUE Board of Directors which was held at the 24th annual BUE conference in 1502. There seems to have been a rather dramatic change in the organization:

"We all are aware of the severe downturn in membership and conference attendance suffered by BUE over the past few years. It is indeed paradoxical that this loss of interest in our organization's activities is occurring at the same time as a tremendous increase in book use in schools. It appears that educators are simply using books on their own! Regardless of the reasons for our current plight we must recognize that the attendance at this year's BUE conference of only twelve people (nine of whom are members of this Board) does not justify continuance of our organization. Therefore, be it resolved that henceforth the Book Using Educators shall be reconstituted as ABACUS, the Association for Blackboard And Chalk Use in Schools."

I'm trying to find out more about this organization.

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