The Effect on Curriculum and Coursework

When calculators entered the classroom in the 1970s, they resulted in a dramatic rethinking of the philosophy of education. Is it worthwhile for students to spend time learning long division when a calculator from a box of breakfast cereal will do the job better? Access to a tool like Tablet will have to cause an even greater revolution in what is considered worth knowing.

By the year 2000, computers will have forever become an integral part of doing science. Just as all arithmetic is done on portable calculators today, algebra, calculus, and all aspects of mathematical calculation will be relegated to computers. Yesterday's science followed one of two paths: hands-on physical experimentation or pure theory. Computers make possible a third path: computer experimentation, which will become the dominant method for investigating many kinds of systems. Such experimentation is the method by which one uses an algorithm to simulate a physical system and then finds out what happens by watching the program run. For many systems, this approach is not only fast and convenient, but fundamentally necessary. There will be very few scientists in 2000 who do not spend the majority of their time in front of their computer.

Knowing that each student has available the computational power of Tablet changes the ground rules for homework assignments and exams. The brute force attack applied to traditional math and physics problems will become obsolete. In its place, an algorithmic paradigm, stressing how a problem is to be solved rather than the mechanics of getting to the actual solution, will be adopted by many disciplines. Homework problems will become increasingly open-ended. When students can explore a wide variety of different assumptions through simulation or online retrieval, the enlightened teacher will encourage them to make reasonable choices themselves.

Word processors have revolutionized the way papers are written at the college level. This will inevitably filter down to the lower grades. We laughed at Mr. Dobko in eighth grade for telling us how important rough drafts were---but now that the technology makes iterative writing possible without excessive drudgery, these styles must be emphasized from the beginning of school. It is not clear to what extent spelling and grammar will be taught in the primary grades---when Tablet can check them better than Mr. Dobko, what is the point?

Despite the interactive nature of current word processing programs, almost all writers print out a draft and scratch corrections upon it before pronouncing it ready. In the year 2000, editing papers will be a snap. With stylus in hand and a page of text on the display screen, corrections will be made the old-fashioned way, only faster. By drawing revision symbols directly over that offending participle or comma splice, editing will occur naturally and automatically. Graphs, images, tables, and mathematical formulae will likewise be integrated into such editors.

Through online databases, each student will have easy access to most of the world's words. Since it will be easy to obtain obscure references, the opportunities for plagiarism will naturally increase. To combat this problem, a professor will check each paper using an ``originality analyzer.'' This system will compare a submitted work with related sources available to the student and will flag passages which appear to be copied or suspiciously unlike that student's previous style. Mencken said that ``Conscience is the little voice inside of you that says someone may be watching.'' Without invoking images of Big Brother, Tablet will be watching.

One educational trend that is bound to continue is the emphasis on simulation. Through simulation, any student can get the feeling of being there. Historical simulations will enable high school students to run for president in 1920 and see why Harding would have beaten them, too. In economics classes, students can erect trade barriers and watch the effect of the ensuing depression. Laboratory science can also be effectively simulated. Ray traced graphics will enable anyone to dissect a frog without the frog minding. Many experiments which could not be performed because of cost or safety considerations can easily be done using the computer.

However, an important aspect of simulations is seldom given enough thought. No simulation is better than its underlying mathematical model of the world. Every model is biased by its designer, by its politics, and by its goals. Some simulations are just plain wrong---their underlying model is fundamentally flawed. Placing trust in the outcomes of simulations is misplacing trust. Students will have to be taught a critical eye for evaluating the results gleaned from simulation. Historical simulations are simply one man's theory and, despite the need to maintain students' interest, scholarly ideals must be maintained. Further, it is self-defeating to simulate certain aspects of laboratory science. Learning laboratory technique is an important part of experimental science, and it is impossible to realistically model Murphy's Law.

Interactive simulation, treated with the proper reverence, does have its role in education. Exercises will more likely be done when they resemble a video game than a homework assignment. Integrating video, speech and text, these programs will adapt to a student's likes and dislikes. For example, an explanation of harmonic waves would be described to a musician via the analogy of the vibration of a guitar's strings. The same explanation would be made to an avid sailor using the waves of the sea as a metaphor. Ideally, the computer will be able to detect weaknesses in a student's understanding of a particular area and will target problems to attack the weakness. However, it will remain the teacher's job to monitor their student's progress.

The Social Aspects of Education

The biggest flaw in many visions of the future is the failure to account for the fact that people are social creatures. One of the negative aspects of increased use of computers is the corresponding reduction in human interaction. If it is not necessary to spend time in the library for research, one of the traditional gathering sites for students will be empty. The same can be said for open classrooms. The solution is that students will take their work to where other students are, instead of taking themselves to where the classes are. Students will not be limited to working in the library or at home. Why not do your calculus in the park or at a museum or in a cafe?

Electronic mail will be a major communication medium for students in the year 2000. Unlike today's email, it will be possible to incorporate audio and video along with text in the mail message. Electronic mail is a wonderful medium for ideas and does not intrude the way a telephone does upon its recipient. It sits there quietly waiting to be read. The cellular telephone built into Tablet will allow students to converse with other students from any location. Using the infrared interface, a computer will be able to talk to other computers. A student's personal computer will be able to continually broadcast what the owner wishes the world to know about him or her: perhaps a name, a face, interests, and sexual preference for openers. Setting your machine in ``get-acquainted mode'' will display the location of all machines in the vicinity and who their owners are. While sitting in a museum or restaurant, you can find out about other people nearby, with the possibility of meeting a person with similar interests. Just imagine turning this loose in a singles bar!

Local computer bulletin boards will be constantly monitored by your computer looking for events you would be interested in. For example, a bulletin board listing upcoming concerts would try to find matches with your music collection. If you had a recording by an artist that was appearing locally, the computer would notify you of the event and present you with the opportunity to order tickets.

It is amusing to consider that the next generation of computer geeks is more likely to consist of artists than programmers! Tablet will be a creative medium which will lend itself to the creation of new art forms. Descendents of programs like today's hypertext system will lead to a redefinition of what exactly literature is. Initial efforts to create hypertext novels will no doubt be artistic failures, but with time legitimate hyperliterature will be created. The time will come, perhaps not by 2000, when the Nobel Prize for Literature will be awarded for hyper instead of linear text.

Using CCD cameras and ray traced graphics, home movies take on a new meaning. By digitally splicing home ``footage'' with simulated scenery, the amateur will be able to produce professional looking movies the way any author can now typeset his own material. As the technical and financial obstacles to entry for such arts fall, more and more people will participate.

From the social perspective, where is the audience who will appreciate all this new art? Some form of shareware video might arise. Other distribution channels will sprout up, but much of this art will be for private consumption only. An analogous situation already exists, as publishers have known for years that more people write poetry than read it. So it might be with shareware video. Just having a studio available doesn't make everyone an artist!

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