Sans punctuation, the title for this article ("Education Of The Future") makes it sound like another "technology you ought to be using" post. There are certainly no shortage of those, including at four blogs at this very site. (1 2 3 4)

Science of the Mind

"The teenagers sat at a computer as a series of slides with varying numbers of yellow and blue dots flashed on a screen for 200 milliseconds each — barely as long as an eye blink. After each slide, the students pressed a button indicating whether they thought there had been more yellow dots or blue . . . the researchers found a robust correlation between dot-spotting prowess at age 14 and strong performance on a raft of standardized math tests from kindergarten onward."
-- "Gut Instinct's Surprising Role in Math", Natalie Angier, The New York Times

"Brain-based" education has been a catchword in education as of late, but there are still vast tracts of unexplored land in this area. If we really knew all the details about how the brain was connected, we could leap far beyond the rough approximation of multiple intelligences into a true evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the brain.

With this knowledge and the methods of neuroplasticity, it ought to be possible to "rewire" the brain past trouble points. Simple example: Consider the experiment in the quote above. The initial run of the tests could be done with tactile feedback – a device that causes slight pressure on the right or left hand depending on whether there were more yellow or blue dots. After enough runs, the tactile feedback is removed, but the processing of number sense may now include some connections through the kinesthetic part of the brain, resulting in a higher score.

Truly (Really!) Connected Education

There are classrooms (usually studying foreign languages) that network with classrooms in other countries for individual projects. In a fully connected world, why should this connection be limited to special cases? Why can't I take my class of 12-year-olds and have them log in at any time into a safe environment, where they can interact with other students the same age, learning the same subject from anywhere in the world? Why can't my "classroom" consist of students from every continent?

Education solutions tend to be local, but why do they have to be? With telepresence, it ought to be possible to have anyone from anywhere as a co-teacher. Preparing for a lesson on carbon dating, I ought to be able to push a button and pull a list of experts around the world willing to collaborate.  Six teachers could spontaneously get together to run a specific lesson, and share their data between classes.

Crowdsourcing Lesson Plans

There are fair share of Web sites full of lesson plans (including Hotchalk's own). However, I see no reason why I shouldn't request a specific lesson (multiplying polynomials, say) and get not just one lesson, but fifty, each rated and dynamically linked to resources teachers create to augment said lesson. Crowdsourcing – utilizing the powers of a networked mass of people to complete a task – has not reached that most fundamental of teacher activities.

Advanced Educational Games

There's a free simulator for spaceflight with realistic physics called Orbiter. It requires working out the physics equations to properly operate the spacecraft; the discussion forums are full of difficult math problems required to make specific journeys.

If it's possible for a computer to accurately simulate something as complex as spaceflight, why not any activity at all? And why can't these simulation then be used not only to answer "Where are we going to use this in real life," but give the chance for students to try out their career of choice (and see what math and science is involved)?

Real Research In The Classroom

The site fold.it is a puzzle game where players re-enact protein folding; by doing this the players aid with research which is used for attempting to conquer AIDS, cancer, and Alzheimer's. What other possibilities exist – incidentally educational – for linking citizens with research? Amateurs have already discovered eight extrasolar planets on Planet Quest; where are the efforts to involve students in real research?

What's Possible Now

Note that while everything I've listed above I consider futuristic, almost none of it is out of reach of current technology – some developments are already in their early stages. (Admittedly telepresence needs some time before it can spontaneously pull up holograms of teachers from around the world.) The advances simply depend on forming the right structures, and having the will and the vision to accomplish great works.

Jason Dyer holds degrees in Fine Arts Studies and Math and teaches at Pueblo High School in Arizona. His school mascot is the Warriors and his other blog of residence is The Number Warrior.

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