Future of Education and Learning Technologies

Melissa, this is outstanding!  In particular, I must concur with your observations about technology.  It goes this way.  Interactive learning technology can relieve teachers from routine "drill and practice" to concentrate on individual help, attention.  A machine cannot replace, "Hi, how are you today?"  Free up the teacher, educator to deal with the personal, individual, human; let the technologies do the information transfer and download, drill, practice, and simulations.  Two years ago, this writer was on an accreditation team at a private boarding school for young men.  Part of the accreditation involved classroom observations.  Here are two observations that this writer made.  One, in biology class, students were in the computer lab, where they were working with an interactive program on the human nervous system!  The program asked questions from time to time, provided video illustrations and models of nerves, synapses developing, connection working, etc.  The biology teacher walked around the lab to interact with students individually as they required help, wanted to share some excitement about the lab, and keep tabs on the success of the interactive lesson on the human system.  Two, in a class on literature, the instructor, who had been a professional radio announcer, had wired his classroom to provide music, visuals, and other recordings.  The lesson was on Dante's inferno; this teacher had visited Italy and thoroughly photographed all of the places there that Dante mentioned in his famed poem!  Wow!  Wow!   Wow!  It is the most dynamic literature lessons this former high school English teacher has ever seen!  The biology was a commercial product; the literature was customized.  I hope our educational systems provide resources (time, money, training) for individual teachers to craft their own learning materials for the emerging technologies.  The school asked me to be an official ambassador for it; I have been too busy with my other chores. Yet, I have not seen finer learning scenarios ever!   Dr. Rux