Last summer, in the same tradition that led us to invent the first handheld scientific calculator, HP introduced a wireless learning appliance. In other words, if your child is sitting in biology class and is daydreaming about other things, the teacher can link them to a rainforest in Malaysia. Or if your children are studying Chinese, their teacher can link them to a classroom in Shanghai so that they can converse with foreign students in the language they are learning. At the university level, three out of four U.S. colleges and universities now offer online courses. More than 2 million students will enroll in distance-learning programs by 2002.
Global trends are the same.
New technology is now enabling piano students and their teachers to talk with each other and hear what they are playing in real time even though they may be 8,000 miles apart. There's no better evidence of how our new technology can unlock and connect minds than what's going on in India. But its corporate headquarters adjoins a colony of squatters and day laborers. The scientists at NIIT literally tunneled a hole through the wall and placed a PC there, facing the people outside, to see what would happen. And without any training, the kids there, from ages 8 to 11, have gradually taught themselves how to use this PC - surfing the Web, downloading Hindi music, playing games, and even landing 747s on a flight simulator.