The overall message of the sources I reviewed in developing this paper is that ICT is creating a new learning environment, but this change is occurring gradually. The costs of the technology, the structure and traditions of the classroom, and the need for extensive faculty development and support limit the rate of adoption of ICT. Even with these constraints, however, the dominant fact confronting education is the staggering amount of information available via the Internet and the rates at which this information and means of accessing it are increasing. There are two major implications of this fact.
The first implication is that to use the Internet effectively, students must be able to formulate questions, seek information, evaluate what is found, and integrate different sources to answer or modify the questions initially posed. In other words, students must acquire a sound general education. This was the primary theme of a paper presented here in Seoul in 1999 by Hermann Schmidt, the former president of the Federal Institute for Vocational Training of Germany. Dr.
Schmidt delivered the keynote address to the Second International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education. His message was that in a world of accelerating change learning to learn
must become the primary objective of all education. All education, including VET, must prepare students to be lifelong learners.
The second major implication is that the role of the teacher must change. Students who have access to all types of information do not need a teacher to stand before them and present information that they can obtain using their personal computers. Teachers must become guides, coaches, and facilitators of learning that is responsive to the particular needs of individual students. At a seminar organized by the Learning 2010 project in England, Anne Wright, Chief Executive of Ufi Ltd, described the change in learning as follows:
The e-learning revolution is primarily a revolution for learners. Self-managed e-learning enables people to get the skills they need when they need, and to learn when, where, and how they want to in ways that that fit their lives and work (Caseley 2000, p. 4)
Ufi (http://www.ufiltd.co.uk) is a joint public-private initiative in the United Kingdom to upgrade the skills of the national workforce primarily through online courses. (Ufi is an acronym for university for industry.) Ms. Wright was referring to online, distance learning, but what she describes applies equally well to the classroom. It is of little importance whether the instructor is at the same physical location as the student or not. Clearly a teacher should be a guide to the learning process who assists students to establish their objectives, directs them to appropriate resources, and provides clarification and assistance as needed. In my judgment, as usage of the Internet grows, the importance of the teacher will increase, not decrease. The more sources there are to access and evaluate, the more important will be the guidance provided by the teacher.
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