Computers, electronic whiteboards and other interactive technologies are technology fundamentally changing American education . That’s the view of the experts whom The Times spoke with about what the classroom will look like ten years from now. Listen to excerpts from their predictions below, and share your own thoughts in the comments section.
Karen Cator, Director of Educational Technology, United States Department of Education
The advent of digital tools will have an impact on education that will rival that of the printing press, said Ms. Cator. The challenge is making the shift from print-based materials to digital ones which offer new levels of interactivity. Until then, she said, schools will be hampered by the need to invest simultaneously in books and bits.Tom Vander Ark, Managing Partner, Learn Capital
The very idea of school has already begun to shift permanently, said Tom Vander Ark, whose firm invests in companies working in educational technology. Mr. Vander Ark believes that, in many schools, traditional classrooms will give way to ad hoc and ever-changing groupings of students who are working on similar material on a given day.
Larry Cuban, Emeritus Professor, Stanford University School of Education
Mr. Cuban, who wrote about computers in the classroom as far back as 1986, said that predictions of impending educational revolution are nothing new. There is danger in people falling for the hype, he said. But Mr. Cuban believes that change in education will not come as quickly as many predict. He noted that some reformers have been attempting to end summer vacation for decades. “Summer is still here,” he said.
Eileen Lento, Education Strategist, Intel
Rural schools are perhaps the best place to experiment with digital teaching methods like online courses, since they have trouble offering some types of classes already, said Ms. Lento. Online classes will begin to supplement the physical classroom gradually, she said, but will lead to changes in everything from the schedule of the school day to the architecture of school buildings. “Later, you know, as things evolve and people get used to it, you’ll see more complex changes,” she said.
David Silvernail, Director, Center for Education Policy, Applied Research and Education
The technology to change the classroom exists already, said Mr. Silvernail; the challenge is using it effectively. He has been examining the impact of a program in Maine through which all middle-school students were given laptop computers. The results varied widely, and the classrooms that used the laptops the most often were not necessarily the most successful. As schools rely more on laptops and mobile devices, it is crucial to determine when students benefit from the presence of the computers and when teachers should put them away, he said.
Karen Cator, Director of Educational Technology, United States Department of Education
The advent of digital tools will have an impact on education that will rival that of the printing press, said Ms. Cator. The challenge is making the shift from print-based materials to digital ones which offer new levels of interactivity. Until then, she said, schools will be hampered by the need to invest simultaneously in books and bits.Tom Vander Ark, Managing Partner, Learn Capital
The very idea of school has already begun to shift permanently, said Tom Vander Ark, whose firm invests in companies working in educational technology. Mr. Vander Ark believes that, in many schools, traditional classrooms will give way to ad hoc and ever-changing groupings of students who are working on similar material on a given day.
Larry Cuban, Emeritus Professor, Stanford University School of Education
Mr. Cuban, who wrote about computers in the classroom as far back as 1986, said that predictions of impending educational revolution are nothing new. There is danger in people falling for the hype, he said. But Mr. Cuban believes that change in education will not come as quickly as many predict. He noted that some reformers have been attempting to end summer vacation for decades. “Summer is still here,” he said.
Eileen Lento, Education Strategist, Intel
Rural schools are perhaps the best place to experiment with digital teaching methods like online courses, since they have trouble offering some types of classes already, said Ms. Lento. Online classes will begin to supplement the physical classroom gradually, she said, but will lead to changes in everything from the schedule of the school day to the architecture of school buildings. “Later, you know, as things evolve and people get used to it, you’ll see more complex changes,” she said.
David Silvernail, Director, Center for Education Policy, Applied Research and Education
The technology to change the classroom exists already, said Mr. Silvernail; the challenge is using it effectively. He has been examining the impact of a program in Maine through which all middle-school students were given laptop computers. The results varied widely, and the classrooms that used the laptops the most often were not necessarily the most successful. As schools rely more on laptops and mobile devices, it is crucial to determine when students benefit from the presence of the computers and when teachers should put them away, he said.
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