The overwhelming ills faced by education today will never be cured by using outdated traditional processes for education. Worn-out lectures, tests and homework fall far short in challenging high school students to learn the skills they desperately need to face their rapidly changing future. The process is changing in Orange County, Florida, where the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (TSD) and Edgewater High School, supported by Apple Computer, Inc., have joined under the Partners in Education Agreement to provide a new learning paradigm in one classroom environment.

The Training Systems Division needed a method to explain the underlying concepts of Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) and Edgewater High School was looking for ways to utilize their computer animation lab. Edgewater and NAWCTSD jointly planned a learning venture for the students to produce the DIS Instructional Animation. This project provided a "real-world" multi-media production which would enrich students' skills in visual arts, group dynamics, computer operation, and problem solving in a multi-disciplined team environment.

Students were encouraged to learn to structure a task from conception to completion, work in groups and independently, communicate ideas verbally and visually, manage time and set priorities. Students reported learning important skills from participation in this project such as: cooperation, drawing, color theory, organization, public speaking, advertising, brainstorming, animation, working with others, problem solving and business planning. What started as a simple classroom project, evolved in into a revolutionary teaching and learning experience.