Future competition, social justice, and daring to break the mould Huge amounts of business, and of research and development, are now carried out via remote networking, making location increasingly unimportant and putting a premium on those with high-level skills and a facility with this medium, wherever they are in the world. The direct competitors for today's students in their future jobs could be anywhere, from design engineers in India to computer programmers in Russia. The first challenge for teachers is to ensure that their students will not be disadvantaged, and in particular those students who do not have Internet access at home. Unless schools and colleges take action quickly, a huge gulf will open up between those who have provision at home and those who do not. In the interests of equality of opportunity it is vital that teachers, overcoming lack of familiarity or confidence where it exists, rise to this challenge.
Science teachers are as well placed as any to do so.
The second challenge relates to the way that the Internet is changing the way that many people and organisations engage in educational activities. Educational resources, courses, lectures, seminars and individual tuition can be provided on-line. While there is no substitute for 'real' personal interaction and the sense of community that a school or college can support and develop, all educational institutions ought to examine the vast wealth of opportunity and resource that can be provided remotely through partnership, purchase or, in many cases, without charge to extend and enhance the experience that can be provided locally. Since many of the students of today find this medium so natural and unthreatening, in contrast to many of their teachers, schools and colleges should have the confidence to encourage students to lead the way. At the same time they should actively explore models of timetabling and organisation that create and support opportunities for more self-directed learning by individual students and groups of students.