The Future of Education

There are approximately 15,000 high schools in our country. These high schools operate independently and rarely communicate with one another. Because of this, students are limited by the resources of their high school. In the wake of continuing cuts in education budgets, this situation is becoming more pronounced. Many high schools simply don't have the resources to provide a modern curriculum.

In response to this problem, the concept of "distance learning" has evolved. Through the development of new technologies schools can pool their resources, giving students access to more courses and information. Unfortunately, these technologies are often so expensive that the schools that need distance learning the most can't afford it!

To solve this problem we have developed a distance learning system that works with the basic computer equipment that many schools already have. By making our software freely available to all high schools we hope to create a vast network of educational resources. Not only will schools be able to share classes and instructors, but students will also have access to mentors and peers as teammates. Large scale projects involving the resources of hundreds of high schools across the nation will become simple to coordinate.

Well Designed Distance Learning

Distance learning refers to conducting a class in one school to be viewed in one or more other schools located elsewhere. In the past, this has been accomplished through small cable TV networks connecting together several high schools in a region. Ideally, they would allow students to take classes that weren't offered at their school but were at a near-by school. Then, by coordinating classes and schedules a district of schools could reallocate their resources to minimize redundancies and maximize the diversity of classes offered. These systems were quite expensive and not all that efficient, due to the awkwardness of conducting a class session over a TV/video camera set up. The real problem was that they were using a new medium in the same old fashioned way.

Recently the possibility of video conferencing over the internet has sparked a renewed interest in distance learning. Unfortunately almost every type of "internet distance learning" package has exactly the same problem that the cable TV setup had. They are trying to force the technology to simulate the familiar way of teaching and learning -- instead of adapting the methods of teaching and learning to the new technology.

There are also some projects out there that are offering "do it yourself" classes on-line -- you download the assignments and submit the completed ones over the network. These suffer from the lack of feedback and discussion.

Finally, there are a few email and web-based courses that combine real-time discussions with the do-it-yourself style of learning. These are the most effective systems out there, but they are few and far between, expensive, and lacking in depth due to the limitations of the web.

What is the purpose of spending tons of money to set up complex hardware and software in order to have video conferencing abilities in high schools when there's no formal way of organizing such a system? Clearly the main priority should be establishing a network with clearly defined means of communication. The design of the software is purely secondary. We need to teach high schools how to communicate amongst each other and how to share intellectual resources.

The Global School District is The Future of Education

Through our system, students all over the world can take interactive courses in science and math subjects that most high schools do not have the resources to offer. An example of a course that we offer is astronomy. In our astronomy course, students in America will be able to get real time images of the night sky through a remote controlled telescope maintained by students in Malaysia or South Africa, and vice-versa. These students will learn how to work together, solving problems and examining the sky as real astronomers would.

Our system gives students the ability to learn what they want when they want, wherever they are. By using a rich communications environment, we can provide students with an effective means of learning. Our educational model assures that students will be able to work at a comfortable pace in ways that make sense for them.