Teachers who are keen to get on should pay particular attention to the vacuum cleaner. Not only will they feel an immediate empathy for a machine dedicated to generating hot air and sucking up - vital skills for any ambitious professional - but they will also come to realise that its history offers an important clue to the direction education is certain to take. To find out why, all they have to do is visit www.google.com - the most intelligent of the search engines - and key in “vacuum cleaner history”. They will unearth dozens of lovingly maintained sites packed with archive material, charming advertisements, incomprehensible technical specs, and, most importantly, essays which explain how, in the Twenties, this humble appliance became the one item no self-respecting home could be without.

It came about because domestic servants - rather like today’s teachers - got fed up of working ludicrous hours in appalling conditions for a derisory wage and voted with their feet. Faced with the prospect of a permanent shortage of staff, the typical lady-of-the-house did the only thing she could and turned to new technology. First, she equipped herself with a vacuum cleaner - and then with a washing machine, an iron, a toaster, a waffle iron, a cream separator, and other gizmos relentlessly promoted by the new Electrical Development Association (EDA). She soon learnt that she didn’t need a bevy of maids buzzing round the house when these labour-saving devices enabled her to do the work herself. If the advertisements are to be believed she even managed to do so dressed to the nines, with every coiffured wave immaculately held in place, a gracious smile on her face and in plenty of time for luncheon, a round of golf or to clink flutes of champagne with her smirking husband - the sort of drink they could easily afford since they no longer had to shell out on staff wages.

The EDA’s message is simple enough: you don’t need to employ people when new technology does the job more effectively, more quickly and at a fraction of the cost. It’s a lesson that won’t be wasted on educational managers trying to solve the crisis in teacher recruitment. After all, computers don’t demand golden handshakes, threaten strike action, express opinions or phone in sick.

If you don’t believe that ICT is sufficiently advanced to deliver the curriculum, go back to www.google.com and key in a few buzz phrases. You could try: computer-aided learning, courseware, integrated learning systems, video-conferencing, virtual learning environments, Web Quests, AI or - that old favourite - the classroom of tomorrow. You’ll discover that, although we might be a bit slow off the mark in this country, in the US, trailblazers in schools and universities are increasingly delegating the whole business of teaching to a network of PCs that access the Net’s wealth of resources designed specifically for independent learning. There are websites and learned academic journals devoted exclusively to the latest developments in e-learning, To find out more, a good starting point is The Center for the Study of Technology and Society (www.tecsoc.orgeduedu.htm). It sounds a bit stuffy but in fact contains a wonderfully eclectic compendium of very readable articles. And if you still think that Intel’s chips will never replace Mr Chips, keep reminding yourself that Mr Hudson and Mrs Bridges would have been just as sceptical about the Hoover.

When it comes to recognising the potential of any new technology, even the experts can get it wrong. It’s worth visiting Timely Quotes, www.cupola.comhtmlwordplay if only to read that in 1943, the chairman of IBM predicted “a world market for maybe five computers”. Bill Gates confidently stated that “640K (memory) ought to be enough for anybody”. He said that in 1981, the year that the first microprocessor came on the market. That’s right, the PC is only 20 years old, yet is ancient compared to the dear old World Wide Web which, has only been in existence since 1989.

But, as the Net’s legion of futurologists insist, we’re about to see even more dramatic advances in ICT. The prospect of so much change will have some teachers eagerly looking forward to the educational opportunities it will offer - and others looking forward, even more eagerly, to retirement. If you’re in that number, you’ll want to visit www.screensaverheaven.com. Here you’ll find a screensaver which, once you’ve keyed in the date you plan to retire, will count down the days to that magic moment. And, rest assured, in the future the livin’ really will be easy. If you don’t believe me, visit emergingfuture.com and read about the progress that is being made in developing a robot servant that will be able to handle all the household chores - leaving you free for luncheon, a round of golf and a few well-earned flutes of champagne.

Bored? Then email Arnold at: ArnoldJEvans@aol.com