On-Line Libraries, Classes, and Textbooks Promise to Redefine Education Globally

Nearly everyone would agree that today’s constant changes in technologies, work, and global markets require companies to hire well-educated employees and to train and retrain their workforces continually. But, until now, there have been at least three obstacles to lifelong learning:

One challenge is the nature of textbooks, which are expensive, inconvenient to carry around, and quickly outdated. Textbooks are often a luxury that is beyond the reach of the world’s poor.

Another challenge is the high ratio of learners to teachers. Only the wealthiest students can afford individual tutors who can provide one-to-one help with learning that is customized to the individual’s needs.

The third challenge is the need to send students to a central university or training facility, which involves high costs and a substantial commitment of time for commuting and for classroom learning.

Let’s look at how the latest trends are obliterating these obstacles and finally making the vision of universal, continuous education a reality.

First, we’ll examine the coming evolution of the textbook. Several information and communications technologies ? including print, video, sound, film, graphics, cell phones, digital radio, television, and the Internet ? are now converging to provide a solution, according to a report in The Futurist.1 Soon the Internet may be populated with cyber assistants that will help learners navigate all of the resources that will be available on-line, from encyclopedias to blogs.

Book publishers are already combining printed books with digital information encoded on CDs. For example, a management textbook might contain a CD that includes spoken lectures by the author or other experts, as well as videos, charts, and links to additional material on the Web.

Now let’s consider how new technologies can overcome the other two limitations: high student/teacher ratios and centralized schools. Obviously, the Internet can supplement or even replace classroom learning by bringing teachers, slide shows, and other instructional materials to the student’s computer screen.

One intriguing new tool is the automated on-line tutor developed by physicist Alfred Bork. As The Futurist explains, the tutor can be set to communicate in the learner’s language. It can answer the student’s questions, and can be customized for each student’s learning approach and pace.

Bork’s automated tutor is now being used to “teach” 25 college-level courses. For example, the class in French helps students to master French grammar and pronunciation, and to learn French history and culture through individual study or by interacting with students in France who are learning English.

The accounting course helps students learn the basics of the subject on-line. When combined with a course taught in a classroom, it allows the instructor enough classroom time to discuss ethics and other issues that there would not be enough time to cover under the traditional system.

Bork contends that automated tutors now make it possible for any student to learn any subject at his or her own pace. He envisions that one day a student will use a single on-line electronic book for each subject, from childhood through adulthood. For example, a math course might start with simple addition and subtraction problems for first-grade children. Once the individual student becomes proficient at that level, the course will introduce new levels of learning: multiplication, division, algebra, calculus, and so on. The student would be able to click on explanations, tutorials, and streaming video for real-world examples customized to each age and skill level.

The system would constantly monitor the student’s performance to determine when he needs to receive additional help, and when he is ready to advance to the next level.

Another tool that will improve learning is the avatar program. A learner’s personal avatar can search millions of Web pages and organize the information. It can also draw on the learning in previous courses, as well as the books and other materials in the individual’s electronic library.

Whether assisted by avatars or today’s search engines, learners will soon be able to access all of the world’s libraries. Google recently announced that it will begin digitizing the books in several research libraries and Oxford University.2 Once the project is complete, the 15 million books covered by the agreement will be available for anyone to read on the Web. Google plans to sell advertising to offset the cost of digitizing the books, which is estimated at $10 per book.

“Within two decades, most of the world’s knowledge will be digitized and available, on hopes for free reading on the Internet, just as there is free reading in libraries today,” according to Michael A. Keller, Stanford University’s head librarian.

Looking ahead, we foresee that the following three developments will transform education:

First, the Internet will evolve into a “Cosmopedia” in which all of the world’s knowledge and information will be readily accessible. The implication for learning is profound. For example, an individual who uses the Internet today to learn about biotechnology can type the term into the Google search engine and then click on various links to find articles, research papers, and Web sites devoted to the topic. With the Cosmopedia, however, you will be able to gain access to all of the documents in all of the world’s university libraries; browse all of the articles and books ever published on the subject; listen to lectures from professors, researchers, and other experts; and get answers to questions from automated tutors and human mentors.

Second, automated learning systems will revolutionize education throughout the world. Learners will go on-line to hear lectures, read textbooks, see illustrations, engage in chat-room discussions, take tests, receive grades, and move on to the next level of study as soon as the subject is mastered. But how will the people who can’t afford even the cheapest devices to access the Internet get on-line? Increasingly, public libraries will evolve into on-ramps for entering the Cosmopedia. Without the high costs of buying the millions of books that will be available on-line, libraries will be able to install hundreds of terminals with high-bandwidth connections to the unlimited Web of knowledge. As a result, education will at last become universally available, regardless of income.

Third, businesses will make the continuous education of every employee a top priority. Based on projections from theU.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics,our economy will create a demand for 10 million more workers in 2010 than the labor force will be able to provide. Companies won’t be able to fill the need for expertise by simply hiring new employees with the necessary backgrounds and experience. Recognizing the need to maximize the skills of their workforce, companies will require every employee to use automated on-line tutoring programs to constantly upgrade their knowledge. Performance reviews, career advancement, and compensation will all be linked closely to the individual’s continued mastery of new subjects that are vital to the future success of the company, such as how to use new technologies for a new production process or how to speak foreign languages in new global markets.

References List :
1. The Futurist, January/February 2005, “Beyond the Book: Electronic Textbooks Will Bring Worldwide Learning,” by Parker Rossman. ⓒ Copyright 2005 by The World Future Society. All rights reserved.2. The New York Times, December 14, 2004, “Google Is Adding Major Libraries to Its Database,” by John Markoff and Edward Wyatt. ⓒ Copyright 2004 by The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.