Future of education: technology will change how students learn
By Dick Pelletier
The market for speech recognition reached $1.6 billion in 2007,
according to Opus Research, which also predicts
phenomenal industry growth; and Microsoft, IBM, Vlingo, Yap,
TellMe and other companies are rushing to grab a major share
of this lucrative field. Speech recognition technologies allow
people to communicate through computers, cell phones and other
electronics, just by using their voice.
Although the technology suffered from poor quality in
the past, today’s equipment flawlessly recognizes ordinary
spoken words and responds perfectly in any selected language.
And new classroom systems will soon enable students to interact
with on-screen avatars that resemble characters such as
Einstein, Columbus, or a favorite teacher.
Futurist William Crossman, author of VIVO
[Voice-In/Voice-Out]: The Coming Age of Talking Computers,
predicts that talking computers using speech, graphics, and
videos from the Internet will eliminate the mouse and keyboard
and allow even non-literate students to receive an education by
simply looking, speaking, and listening.
Tomorrow's students will receive information through
their cell phones and computers and mostly educate themselves,
using teachers only when they need extra help. Computers have
infinite patience and time and can adapt to the skill and
knowledge levels of individual children without making them feel
backward. Students will fearlessly ask computers questions that
they wouldn’t dare ask in class.
Personal creativity will expand too. A child might
think of a tune long before he or she learns to compose music or
play an instrument. But they could simply hum the melody and the
computer would explore its potential by rearranging and playing
back different suggested versions of the finished piece.
As virtual reality technologies mature – 2015-to-2020 –
many schools will adopt simulation programs that achieve levels
similar to those portrayed in TV’s Star Trek Holodeck.
Interactive systems using cutting-edge technologies like these
could allow children from different countries to meet as if they
were in the same room, teaching collaboration between cultures.
Experts ponder how extreme radical technologies of the
future will affect education. Enthusiasts at the World
Transhumanists Association believe that science will one day
provide humans with huge intelligence boosts that will eliminate
the drudgery of "reading" each paragraph, sentence, or word.
By mid-2030s or so, futurists predict we will be
endowed with non-biological neurons that process information
millions of times faster and more accurate than today’s slow
brains can. Future humans could scan through a 400-page book in
just four minutes and would thoroughly understand every detail;
and even feel all of the emotions the author intended.
Tomorrow’s "super-brain" technologies will also enable
us to multi-task activities. We could be enjoying a blockbuster
movie, while at the same time, maintain a conversation with
friends.
Today's worldwide literacy crisis will be reversed
through the adoption of Voice-In-Voice-Out technologies.
The "three Rs" will be replaced by the "four Cs" – Critical
thinking, Creativity, Computer skills, and Calculators.
Children in the future may not read like we do, but it won’t
matter. They will be as skillfully literate in the information
technologies of their generation as we are in ours.
Granted, it is difficult to imagine such a futuristic
world, but with technologies advancing exponentially, this
"magical future" could become reality during our lifetime.
This article appeared in various print publications and
on-line blogs. Comments always welcome.
