Thomas Frey envisions education to be a vast selection of courseware topics available economically to everyone of all ages and about all topics.

Young Children

Before children can begin using courseware, the following must be in place:

• ability to read
• follow directions
• respond to questions

And, since children vary in mastery of concepts, every child will be able to handle courseware at different times. Basic concepts in education can not be abandoned.

Grants

To get the ball rolling, Frey sees grants as key factors. Courseware being developed in the beginning stages may come from teachers with small budgets. With grants coming onto the scene, there will be a pool of "development grants." Courseware could be a combination of video animation, expert interviews, and advance mathematical modeling. This kind of courseware would be preferred over a text-based model. As more grants encourage better courseware, the product will become better and better. This will encourage more people to develop their own courses without grants. Teachers with strong curriculums could be top courseware providers.

Order of Acceptance

This new system will be a radical change. Acceptance will be spotty at first. Change in itself is resisted by many people. Frey thinks that acceptance will happen in this order:

1. home schoolers
2. foreign students
3. private schools and charter schools
4. public schools

Why will public schools with the poorest educational record be last? Teacher unions. Unions are dependent on the system remaining as it is. The view of teaching will change and the need for teachers will change. The NEA is presently very political and focuses on providing teachers with job protection. There is a strong possibility that more teachers will be staying in education with Frey's proposed changes. Could Bill Gates, who is already funding so much of public school change, become a partner in courseware development?

Initially, courseware will be used as a supplemental tool within the classroom setting. It will progress to being a complete learning curriculum.

Learning Camps

While we already have "learning camps", more will develop. We presently have summer math, science, writing camps offered on a college campus during the summer. Students with strong talents in these areas, are drawn to these camps. Students with strong science interest would go to Space Camp in Houston. Camps are a great hands-on way to learn.

• History Camps held on battlefields for reenactment of the battle
• Marine Biology Camps working with marine life
• History Camps touring castles and ancient ruins
• Indian Camps spent in a wigwam or cave dwelling
• Plumbing Camps spent plumbing a home
• Woodworking Camps spent working with wood
• Math or Science Camp spent learning advanced concepts from experts

Each camp would have it's own identity, use its own in-house experts, and would focus on specific goals set up by the expert who would validate competency.

Social Aspect

There is valid concern that all this technology will isolate people from each other and produce poor social skills. That problem is already present. Students come home from school and instead of playing games with neighborhood kids they play Nintendo or get on MSN to chat. Instead of stopping to talk with someone on the street while shopping, we are talking on our cell phones and walk past them. The new system will not eliminate the social aspect--it will merely change it. Students will interact with more people that have their same interests.

Transition

How will the change affect those in existing schools?

• Students. The people that will probably adapt the quickest are the students. Instead of being forced to learn things that have no interest to them, students would be allowed to select areas of interest. This may very well reduce, if not eliminate, behavior problems and boredom. Dropouts claim that boredom is the biggest reason they left school. Students will be active in their education which will improve the performance of boys who need to move more, and they may travel and experience more.
• School Buildings. We will still have school buildings but they are likely to be open 24 hours a day as learning centers. Adult learners will join younger students. Schools may be there to support those that are struggling or provide production centers filled with the tools and equipment for people to produce more courseware. Wings of schools could turn into learning camps in a specialty area and staff people would be on hand to produce improved courseware.
• Teachers. Teachers will have many good options when the change occurs. Some will remain with the school buildings and work as guides, coaches and tutors for students needing help. Others will move on as event planners helping each school become an events center. Yet, others will work on re-inventing the social side of learning. Some teachers will develop their own learning camps or collaborate with others to develop a series of camps with other teachers. Some may become full-time courseware providers.

Funding

Funding will dramatically change. Frey sees the following:

• parents will pay for their children's courses and costs will be held low
• grants and loans will allow more students to participate
• government money will begin to shift and cover the expenses

Conclusion

Frey claims that under this system, learning will increase tenfold because of the following transformations:

• Teacher-centric to learning-centric
• Classroom-based teaching to anyplace, anytime learning
• Mandated courses to hyper-individualized learning
• A general population of consumers to a growing population of producers

"Learning will become hyper-individualized with students learning what they want to learn, when they want to learn it," says Frey.

[Source: Thomas Frey, DaVinci Institute, with permission]

Related articles: The Future of Education, Changing Education, Education Roadblocks and Gaps, Education and Society Are Changing, Paradigm Shift in Learning, Confidence-Based Learning.

Read previous articles on Educational Issues.

Copyright article 2007 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.