The telecomputer could revitalize public education by bringing the best teachers in the country to classrooms everywhere. More important, the telecomputer could encourage competition because it could make home schooling both feasible and attractive. To learn social skills, neighborhood children could gather in micro-schools run by parents, churches or other local institutions. The competition of home schooling would either destroy the public school system or force it to become competitive with rival systems.
Predictor: Gilder, George
Prediction, in context:In a 1991 article for The Whole Earth Review, a quarterly magazine of access to tools and ideas, Roger Karraker discusses the Internet, quoting George Gilder. Karraker writes:”What would a real Network Nation be like? Conservative theorist/author George Gilder … foresees a renaissance in education caused by the ‘telecomputer’: the merger of fiberoptic telephone service to the home and new ultra-powerful multimedia computers. ‘The telecomputer could revitalize public education by bringing the best teachers in the country to classrooms everywhere,’ Gilder says. ‘More important, the telecomputer could encourage competition because it could make home schooling both feasible and attractive. To learn social skills, neighborhood children could gather in micro-schools run by parents, churches or other local institutions. The competition of home schooling would either destroy the public school system or force it to become competitive with rival systems.'”
Biography:George Gilder was a pioneer the formulation of the theory of supply-side economics. In his major book “Microcosm” (1989), he explored the quantum roots of the new electronic technologies. His book “Life After Television,” published by W.W. Norton (1992), is a prophecy of computers and telecommunications displacing the broadcast-TV empire. He followed it with another classic, “Telecosm.” (Futurist/Consultant.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1991
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: E-learning
Name of publication: Whole Earth Revue
Title, headline, chapter name: Highways of the Mind or Toll Roads Between Information Castles?
Quote Type: Partial quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.eff.org/Net_culture/Criticisms/hiways_of_mind.article
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Stotler, Larry