The Future of Computers in Education :: essays papers

The Future of Computers in Education CURRENT PROBLEMS OF EDUCATION It seems reasonable to begin a discussion of the next of computers in education with considerations of the current problems of education. Then we can direct our use of technology to improve education. I do not mean to imply that on that point would be universal agreement on these problems or that this list is exhaustive but these serious problems deserve careful preliminary consideration in restructuring our educational systems. They are populationwide problems that affect all levels of education. I begin with what I regard as the root of umpteen of the grand problems of today the problem of population. The trope of people on earth is growing rapidly with no sign that we will be able to stop this growth. Indeed, many powerful people and groups abet this growth. Educators often do not see this as an educational problem, but I believe this view to be wrong.World Population The Grand worry At the beginning of this century, the population of the earth, after thousands of years of development of civilization, reached one billion people. At the beginning of the new century we will have somewhat six billion people on earth, and this number continues to grow rapidly -- presently at ninety million people per year. A scenario from the United Nations gives the valet de chambre population in 2150 as 694 billion, based on current growth rates in the different parts of the world.1 This is very unlikely, but it shows the serious record of the problem. I regard this rapid growth of population as the root problem on earth today, not just for learning but withal for many other aspects of modern society. Attempts to control population in countries such as China and India have met with only partial success. In most of the world there is only an inadequate attempt at population control. A rapidly growing population means that with todays methods of learning many people will receive no or inferior education. Schools and other educational institutions cannot handle, in their present mode, even in highly developed countries, the ever-increasing total of students, and they change only slowly. Very few of the people on earth receive an adequate education even today.