| | October 20148CIOReviewopinionin myPeople have been predicting that technology is going to revolutionize the education system for at least 30 years. Surprisingly, that revolution still seems a ways out.A high school sophomore who fell asleep in class in 1985 and woke up today would have little trouble adjusting to the current classroom. Typing on a laptop keyboard would be easier than a manual typewriter, and it would be a bit strange to submit assignments by email instead of on paper. But she would still be reading paper textbooks in lockstep with her classmates. She would still be struggling to stay awake as the teacher in the front of the room used a whiteboard to explain geometric proofs or the reproductive system of a frog. When she takes the PSAT test she will still need a No. 2 pencil to fill in the bubbles. It's time to move more aggressively to use technology to improve education. In the not so distant future, technology is likely to impact education in a number of ways. The goal is to make schools much more responsive to the needs and talents of individual students. Instead of one-size-fits-all classrooms, technology can provide individualized lesson plans tailored to each student's learning style, pace and skill set. Analytics and other systems of engagement will alert administrators to order up additional help when students fall behind. A student centered education will increase the chances that each student achieves as much as he or she can. Today, we talk about students doing well at school. In the future we should think about schools doing well for students. This `classroom of the future' will have enable a partnership of educators, parents and students to learn about each student using longitudinal and real time data and to provide an environment of experiential learning, helping students learn what they want at the pace they need, as opposed to a lock step curriculum. Ignoring the data explosion isn't an option, it doesn't make it go away; it just hides it across various providers and disparate departments as opposed to centralizing it and gleaning it for insights. In order to get the most out of The 5 Trends That Are Transforming EducationBy Michael D. King, VP-Global Education Industry, IBMMichael D. King| | October 20148CIOReview
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