The prediction, in brief:

Wide bandwidth digital networks – pipes – will reach into every home and school in a decade, whether the data is moved over the power line, cable, telephone, satellite dish, fiber, or dedicated digital line. In homes, these pipes will terminate in a server computer that might called a set-top box because a TV will be connected to it. But the server will do much more than simply provide a TV signal; it will also provide network access to all the computers in the home, including the kids’ handheld computers, using wireless, infrared, and wires. Schools will also have ubiquitous networking.

Predictor: Tinker, Bob

Prediction, in context:

In 1995, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology commissioned a series of white papers on various issues related to networking technologies. The department convened the authors for a workshop in November 1995 to discuss the implications. The following statement is taken from one of the white papers, “The Whole World in Their Hands,” by Bob Tinker, the president of Concord Consortium, he has a Ph.D. in physics from MIT and a reputation as a pioneer in constructivist uses of educational technology. Tinker writes:”Wide bandwidth digital networks – pipes – will reach into every home and school in a decade, whether the data is moved over the power line, cable, telephone, satellite dish, fiber, or dedicated digital line. In homes, these pipes will terminate in a server computer that might called a set-top box because a TV will be connected to it. But the server will do much more than simply provide a TV signal; it will also provide network access to all the computers in the home, including the kids’ handheld computers, using wireless, infrared, and wires. Schools will also have ubiquitous networking, so that no student will need to carry files in a handheld computer, but can have full access at home and in school.”

Date of prediction: January 1, 1995

Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information

Subtopic: E-learning

Name of publication: The Future of Networking Technologies for Learning

Title, headline, chapter name: The Whole World in Their Hands

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.ed.gov/Technology/Futures/

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney