In this day and age, technology is taking over everything we do. Paying bills, reading books, etc. are all being taken over by electronics and education is not far behind. Education reform may not be a hot topic currently in political debates, but with the rapid change in technology, it will be in the next couple of years. Think of how much of an impact the IPhone has made on the world. I know that one of the reasons why I purchased one was to use the applications to help educate me in subjects I wouldn’t know about otherwise. The IPhone has helped me with schoolwork by acting as a pocket dictionary and thesaurus, a calculator on the go, and as an ACT and SAT prep source.

Many of these technological advances are already out today, but just haven’t been introduced to schools yet. Some private schools here in Louisville, like Sacred Heart, are taking the leap into the technology pool by giving all their students an electronic tablet that serves the purpose as Manual’s agendas but the electronic tablet can also be used to upload class assignments for the teacher’s students and can be used to submit class assignments from the students to their teachers. Some of my teachers here at Manual use a website similar to this, but isn’t always as efficient. With a new version of the IPad and any type of tablet coming out every six months it seems, education systems all over America need to start taking advantage of all the technology that is out there.

Another advance colleges are starting to do now is have all textbooks on tablets instead of having an actual book with paper. I know that would help prevent the scoliosis that Manual students are getting from all their textbooks along with binders and paper in their backpacks. It would also help the environment with the cut back on paper. Textbooks seem to typically be at least a ream of paper or more. Roughly one tree, depending on the size, can make about 161 reams of paper. That could equal 161 textbooks, which isn’t enough to supply a large classroom, let alone a college. This cut down on paper could help the preservation of trees tremendously.

Because of all the technological advances that are bound to happen in the next twenty years, it will also be easier to get a higher education just by using their tablet. Students won’t have to go to class or even go to campus. They can earn a degree anywhere anytime. It’s much like online schooling nowadays. Getting a degree won’t take five or six years, but instead one or two. If that were to happen today, that means higher playing jobs for everyone. In 2032, there’s no telling what the economy or what jobs will be like, but basing it off of what is occurring now, it would be a large financial increase for many people.

Even though 2032 is twenty years away, we can always try and predict what is going to happen in the next twenty years, and they twenty years after that. All of these technological changes won’t happen instantaneously, but over the next couple of decades the world will probably have evolved to where these predictions aren’t as far fetched. Tablets, no paper textbooks, and higher education possibilities may be in place now, but in 2032 they will be standardized and used in every school system worldwide. It’s just a matter of time before technology runs us all.