For thousands of years we’ve been doing things the same way. We’ve been doing math mostly by hand, reading in books, and calculations for maths and sciences using several tools like rulers, Compi, and stencils. These tools are literally the same tools our grandfathers used in their education. But times are changing and in the future of education, things are going to be different.
Right now we are in the last generation. Generation Z (ironically the last generation in the alphabet) will be the last generation to learn in the traditional way. They are the last generation that will have that classic student-teacher relationship that has existed for thousands of years. In the classrooms during this time of transition, books are being replaced by ipads and kindles, encyclopedias are being ignored for Wikipedia (as innacurate as it may be). Boring PBS documentary tapes are being replaced by new, exciting online programs such as Scishow on Youtube (below). No matter how long we try to teach the old ways, the new ways will prevail because we are in an age of innovation. New technologies such as smartboards are replacing the classic white or chalkboard. Traditional pencil and paper notewriting is being replaced by laptops and word proccessors. Even studying is being transformed from a slow, tedious process, to an exciting and fastpaced game. The times are achangin’. What will we see next in the classroom?