Education & Distance Learning Enthusiasts- Teacher's Dirty Looks? He's Workin' On It - Leon Botstein, president of Bard College, sees major changes in education coming

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Teacher's Dirty Looks? He's Workin' On It - Leon Botstein, president of Bard College, sees major changes in education coming - Brief Article

Brandweek - October 4, 1999

No more grades? No more textbooks? No more timed tests? According to Leon Botstein, president of Bard College in Annandale, N.Y., the future of education seems rosy for students as long as they can look past pesky little problems like budget cuts and the threat of campus killing sprees.

As the population swells and more children enter school, the education debate will be forced to come to a head. At Young & Rubicam's recent 9.9.99 trends conference, Botstein, a leading proponent of a major restructuring of our current educational system, offered his thoughts on the future of the education system and the radical changes he foresees:

* The definition of intelligence and the process of learning will change as a result of biological and neurological advancements.

* Age segregation in schools will end. The grade system will disappear as children advance at rates determined by ability, not age.

* A new method of measurement and grading will emerge. At present, students often get the right answers on tests for the wrong reasons or are told they've gotten the wrong answer without explanation. Going forward, computer technology will allow for corrective exercises that help a child understand how to get to the correct answers.

* We'll see the end of timed tests, and the timing of school will change: Children will start earlier, and schools won't necessarily go for nine consecutive months or even six consecutive hours per day.

* There will be no more textbooks. Curricula will be devised differently, around a "Need to Know" learning system. Learning tools that can handle integration between subjects will need to be developed.

* Due to economic factors, learning will stretch later into people's lives. Receiving a degree will not mark the end of education, as we'll need to compete and adapt within evolving industries.

* New technologies will render the large lecture obsolete now that technology can allow students to ask real-time questions and other interactive components can be built in. But "distance learning" or schooling over the Net will never replace traditional face-to-face, one-on-one learning. After all, there's a reason why the largest commerce site on the Internet sells books.

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