Get set for the three "m"s

Citation

(2001), "Get set for the three "m"s", Education + Training, Vol. 43 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2001.00443aab.007

Get set for the three "m"s

Get set for the three "m"s

Keywords: Learning styles, Schools, Internet, Technology

Traditional classrooms will be history by 2020, a report by the Institution of Electrical Engineers has predicted. Pupils will need to know how to acquire and use information, rather than learn facts. The use of information and communication technology will enable lessons to be delivered to meet the needs, aspirations and potential of individual pupils, says the report, To School or Not to School. Classroom teaching will be the exception rather than the rule. Once pupils have moved beyond elementary education, most of their lessons will be delivered by machine. Teachers will mentor, monitor and motivate pupils – the three "m"s rather than the three "r"s.

Schools will be smaller and will develop into communication centres for exchanging information between teachers, parents and pupils. Rather than belonging to a single class of a single age group, pupils will belong to several groups, depending on the subject and level of ability, whose members may be geographically separated. The report acknowledges that most teachers currently view information and communication technology as a threat rather than an opportunity and that it will be essential to revolutionize the teaching profession to take full advantage of the potential of computers in the classroom.

Copies of the report are available on the IEE Web site, at http://www.iee.org.uk/PAB/Iteduc/.