We Will All Envy the Students of the Future by Joy

We Will All Envy the Students of the Future by Joy - May 2020 Scholarship Essay

It’s tempting to indulge in imaginative predictions of holographic screens and bustling robot serfs when thinking about the future. But if we’re going for a more realistic approach, it’s important to consider topics that will directly affect society in the years to come, such as education. While I’m not naive enough to assume the world’s education systems will be completely reformed within a couple decades, I am optimistic about improvement. The most important future development of education is that the universal school experience will be far more personalized in 50 years.

One aspect of the current schooling system I expect to change in favor of a more individualized arrangement is that students will be able to customize their curriculum much earlier in their education. Considering the rapid integration of technology into the way we teach and learn, as well as the gradual increase of families with internet access across the globe, I wouldn’t be surprised if most children were completing grades K-12 online long before 2070. If students are attending school through the internet on a daily basis, time management and efficiency will likely be top priorities. Students will be able to learn and perform at their own pace, choosing higher level classes and subjects of interest without worrying as much about strict schedules. As a student currently experiencing remote learning for the first time, I have learned that it's possible to adapt, but hopefully the kids of the future won’t even have to.

A related yet more specific development that will likely arise in education within the next 50 years is the normalization of online standardized testing. One day SATs, ACTs, AP Exams and all other standardized tests will be administered online. While this idea may be greeted with immediate apprehension (understandably so), the online 2020 AP Exams have proved that important assessments can be successfully taken from the comfort of one’s home. As a student who has very recently taken two of these exams, I know for a fact that administration is entirely capable of dealing with issues of security and academic integrity- they were designed so that cheating wouldn't be beneficial even if a student attempted to! The success of these online exams gives me hope that the teens of 2070 will never have to make the anxiety-filled trip to a school building to take the assessments that count the most.

Although the world of digitized learning seems like it would lessen the need for educators, the opposite will likely be true: teachers will be in higher demand in 50 years. The introduction of online learning will likely lead to smaller classroom sizes, and it will become more important to ensure the specific needs of each student are met. Teachers will assume the roles of thoroughly trained tutors, assisting children through video calls, message forums and social media (and also whatever awesome new technology is available at the time because it is still the future we’re talking about, people). Teachers will have to employ innovative methods of communication more effectively than recording lectures, and therefore the profession will be far more sought after as the world evolves.

There are many aspects of the future that are uncertain, but fortunately our society has the power to revolutionize the way students are taught. Even in the midst of these troubling times, it heartens me to see signs of the future in present-day education: entire curriculum offered on free websites, class time on Facetime, submitting term papers online (that one’s not all that new, but still cool). At the risk of sounding exasperatingly idealistic, I believe that in 50 years education will be more widespread, effective and rewarding than we ever could have imagined.