Will You Still Be Teaching in the Twenty-First Century?.

INTRODUCTION " Computers are coming! Computers are coming! " is the cry heard around the world as the technology revolution slowly and insidiously works its way into the classroom from kindergarten through higher education. Administrators dream about the economies of inexpensive computer systems handling hundreds of students relatively independently of faculty, with the additional benefit that computers do not debate issues at staff meetings. Lost in the current rush to extol the value of having computers in every classroom, internet courses available to any student anywhere in the world, and complete degrees offered in cyberspace, is a discussion about the real nature of education, the human side. Teaching/learning paradigms at all institutions of higher education must change from lectures to interactive, student-centered inquiry approaches, in order to focus on the human aspects of learning, or else computers will do the teaching for us. This article is not intended to criticize all uses of technology but instead to promote learning through human interactions. The author believes that appropriate uses of technology lie in supplemental instruction intended to complement classroom activities, not replace them. Computers are useful for building skills, repetition exercises, the search for information via the world wide web, and some communications via e-mail or chat rooms. But technology can never replace the affective nature of education created by face to face interaction between students, and between students and teachers. Unfortunately, the real value of computers as teaching tools has been lost on administrators who only see the apparent economics of scale when they consider the internet as a mechanism to recruit additional students beyond their immediate geographical region. College professors are at a crossroads. We are under increasing pressure to incorporate technology into our courses and to offer extraterrestrial learning environments commonly referred to as cyberspace or internet courses. Simultaneously, we are expected to teach students how to think critically, solve problems and interact socially in preparation for the workplace. Something is missing from the discussion on how higher education should accomplish these goals. The question which should be driving this debate is not how much technology can we include in our teaching, but instead, " What is the underlying philosophy of education and the learning experience? " Several questions spring to mind and should form the basis for discussions about the future of higher education. They are: 1. Should we facilitate learning through interactive, student-centered courses or focus …