An article (for a newspaper or magazine): The school of the future

Generally speaking, schools have looked the same for the last 75 years or more. Of course, technology is now a key part of the classroom, and interactive whiteboards may have replaced traditional chalkboards. But, still, the basic premise remains the same – teachers stand at the front rows of desks facing off students who sit behind.

So, schools haven’t changed much physically for the better part of the century. Some schools have experimented with flirtations of ‘open plan’ classroom design – but long corridors with conventional classrooms off them are still largely the order of the day.

Indeed, the way that schools are organized has changed little, either. Children are still typically grouped by age and then by ability. Of course, all over the world, you will always find isolated stories of schools being particularly innovative and creative. These are the schools that have decided to do things a little bit differently (often with great results), but – by and large – not upsetting the status quo seems to be the way most schools do things.

But technology has never moved at such a fast pace. Many people will be asking the question: What should the school of the future look like? People are intrigued by the thought of embracing technology more to improve the learning environment. AI (Artificial Intelligence) is big news these days – Will robots take over from teachers one day?

The extent to which the schools of today are fit for purpose is a hot topic. Many educationalists believe that some of the things schools do are simply obsolete now. These include losing school days either through illness or bad weather. A former Law and Business teacher, Dave Townsend, created a virtual classroom to cater to one of his students who were unable to come to school for 6 months because of an immune deficiency problem. Townsend was able to develop a facility that enabled the student to log on and view the classroom so that learning was not affected in any way.

With the technology and software that is available today, let alone in 20/30 years, the idea of a virtual classroom could become commonplace.

Many educationalists now believe that it is only a matter of time before robots – intelligent machines – begin to replace teachers in schools.

There will always be a place for teachers, but intelligent machines will be able to offer a more individual and personalized experience for students overall.

There will always be a place for teachers, but intelligent machines will be able to offer a more individual and personalised experience for students overall.