In Ed Lyell’s hopeful vision of the near future, by age 18 everyone in this country is literate, semi-skilled and as comfortable using computers and telecommunications technology as they are using pencils … “It would be easier to get the Pope to become a Buddhist than to get the schools to change.”
Predictor: Lyell, Ed
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 Wired magazine interview with Connie Guglielmo about his election to the Colorado State Board of Education, Ed Lyell discusses his vision of the future of computers and education. Guglielmo writes: ”In Ed Lyell’s hopeful vision of the near future, by age 18 everyone in this country is literate, semi-skilled and as comfortable using computers and telecommunications technology as they are using pencils. The main thing clouding that vision is the current educational system. ‘Children are born learning machines,’ says the Denver resident. ‘… But if you had a school out there today to teach children to walk, one-third of the population would not be walking … It would be easier to get the Pope to become a Buddhist than to get the schools to change.'”
Biography:Ed Lyell was an educator and education administrator who foresaw uses for the Internet in schools and became a popular public speaker on the topic. (Futurist/Consultant.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: E-learning
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Man With a Plan: Ed Lyell Has Actually Been Elected to the Colorado State Board of Education
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.06/lyell_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: McAlister, Rory