????說(shuō)起教育的未來(lái)，常常會(huì)引發(fā)這樣的想象：學(xué)生人手一部iPad，機(jī)器人監(jiān)控課堂甚至授課，老師隨時(shí)可以通過(guò)網(wǎng)絡(luò)攝像機(jī)向成千上萬(wàn)的學(xué)生講課。

????有些已經(jīng)以這種或那種形式實(shí)現(xiàn)。毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，技術(shù)將成為未來(lái)教育的重要組成部分。全球移動(dòng)通信系統(tǒng)協(xié)會(huì)（GSMA）和咨詢公司麥肯錫（McKinsey & Co）在2012年進(jìn)行的調(diào)查顯示，移動(dòng)教育市場(chǎng)（囊括了從電子書到平板電腦授課再到教學(xué)管理軟件的方方面面）目前的規(guī)模為34億美元。到2020年，這個(gè)涵蓋了蘋果（Apple）iPad和谷歌（Google）安卓平板等設(shè)備銷售的市場(chǎng)預(yù)計(jì)將達(dá)到700億美元。

????然而，盡管對(duì)電子產(chǎn)品和新軟件的宣傳可謂天花亂墜，但教育的未來(lái)實(shí)際上取決于老師和學(xué)生的角色轉(zhuǎn)變。“主要的轉(zhuǎn)變?cè)谟谥饾u放棄我所說(shuō)的以老師在課堂上授課為主的模式?！北葼柡兔妨者_(dá)?蓋茨基金會(huì)（Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation）的項(xiàng)目官員斯科特?本森解釋道。本森指出，學(xué)生們將按照各自的進(jìn)度，使用適應(yīng)他們優(yōu)缺點(diǎn)的軟件來(lái)進(jìn)行學(xué)習(xí)。換句話說(shuō)，在新興技術(shù)的幫助下，師生關(guān)系以及課堂本身將得到重塑。這就是即將來(lái)臨的教育革命。

????老師將不再在講臺(tái)上授課，而是監(jiān)督學(xué)生們的學(xué)習(xí)進(jìn)度，在特定時(shí)候出面幫助那些遇到困難的學(xué)生。理想的情況下，老師將讓成績(jī)好的學(xué)生自己學(xué)習(xí)，把更多的精力用在那些需要幫助的學(xué)生身上。

????“有了這種新的方法和能力，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)老師們突然之間可以應(yīng)付更多的學(xué)生了。”麥格勞-希爾教育集團(tuán)（McGraw-Hill Education）總裁兼CEO、綽號(hào)“噪音”的勞埃德?沃特豪斯說(shuō)。該集團(tuán)和培生（Pearson）等出版業(yè)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手正在競(jìng)相打造能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)這種未來(lái)愿景的數(shù)字產(chǎn)品（更別說(shuō)確保他們不受到這種商業(yè)模式的干擾）?！巴蝗恢g，生產(chǎn)力有望提高到原來(lái)的兩倍或三倍?！?/p>

????在上周二的消費(fèi)電子展（CES）技術(shù)會(huì)議上，麥格勞-希爾教育集團(tuán)推出了一套面向大學(xué)生的自適應(yīng)學(xué)習(xí)新產(chǎn)品，其中最引人矚目的是“SmartBook”。它能夠根據(jù)學(xué)生的個(gè)人需求進(jìn)行調(diào)整，可以說(shuō)開創(chuàng)了教育界先河。這種常常被稱為“個(gè)性化學(xué)習(xí)”的方法在近些年里日漸流行。該教學(xué)方法的部分依據(jù)來(lái)自于芝加哥大學(xué)（University of Chicago）教育心理學(xué)家本杰明?布魯姆在大約30年前進(jìn)行的研究。布魯姆在上世紀(jì)八十年代早期發(fā)現(xiàn)，參加一對(duì)一輔導(dǎo)的學(xué)生表現(xiàn)明顯好于接受普通課堂教學(xué)的學(xué)生。

????但為每名學(xué)生都聘請(qǐng)一位導(dǎo)師是不可能的。因此，很多新興科技公司、出版商和教育機(jī)構(gòu)花費(fèi)大量的精力和資金，使數(shù)字課程進(jìn)入全國(guó)各地的課堂，模擬那種能夠適應(yīng)學(xué)生個(gè)人需求的一對(duì)一教學(xué)。

????我們正在取得進(jìn)展，但還沒有完全成功。蓋茨基金會(huì)的本森說(shuō)：“如果我是涵蓋了110萬(wàn)學(xué)生的教育系統(tǒng)的首腦，我不可能只采用一種模式。我們絕不會(huì)這么做。”

????蓋茨基金會(huì)已經(jīng)向非盈利教育組織EDUCAUSE管理的一個(gè)項(xiàng)目投資了近900萬(wàn)美元。作為“下一代學(xué)習(xí)挑戰(zhàn)”（Next Generation Learning Challenges）計(jì)劃的一部分，該項(xiàng)目將使200間學(xué)校找到一種可靠的、在經(jīng)濟(jì)上可持續(xù)的方法來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)個(gè)性化學(xué)習(xí)。獲得款項(xiàng)的所有學(xué)校將同時(shí)使用數(shù)字和傳統(tǒng)教學(xué)方法。

????When people talk about the future of education, it often triggers visions of an iPad in every student's hands, classes monitored—or even taught—by robots, and teachers lecturing via webcam to hundreds of thousands of pupils at any given moment.

????Some of this is already happening in one form or another. Without a doubt, technology will be a crucial part of the future of education. The market for mobile education—which encompasses everything from e-books to courses delivered to tablets and learning management software—is currently worth $3.4 billion, according to a 2012 study by GSMA, an association of mobile operators, and consultants McKinsey & Co. The market, which includes device sales like Apple (AAPL) iPads and Google (GOOG) Android-based tablets, is expected to be worth $70 billion by 2020.

????But despite all the hoopla over gadgets and new software, the future of education really hinges on the shifting roles of teacher and student. "The main shift is away from what I'll call a teacher-in-classroom-centric model," explains Scott Benson, a program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Instead, Benson says students will learn at their own pace, using software that adapts to their strengths and weaknesses. In other words: aided by emerging technology, the teacher-student relationship—and the classroom itself—will be remade. That is the coming education revolution.

????Instead of lecturing at the front of a classroom, a teacher would monitor students' progress and assist those who are struggling on an ad-hoc basis. A teacher will, ideally, be free to let advanced students do their own thing and pay more attention to those who need help.

????"With this new method and capability, all of a sudden you could see a teacher handling many more students," says Lloyd "Buzz" Waterhouse, president and CEO at McGraw-Hill Education (MHP), which, along with publishing competitors like Pearson (PSO), is racing to build digital products that fulfill this vision of the future. (Not to mention ensure they aren't disrupted out of a business model.) "All of a sudden, the productivity could double or triple."

????On Tuesday at the CES tech conference, McGraw Hill Education revealed a set of new adaptive learning products for college students, most notably a "SmartBook" that changes based on a student's individual needs, arguably a first in education. This approach, often referred to as "personalized learning," has picked up steam over the years. It is partly based on research conducted around 30 years ago by University of Chicago educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom. In the early 1980s, Bloom observed that students who engaged in one-on-one tutoring performed significantly better than those who had a typical classroom experience.

????But hiring a tutor for every single student is not possible, so a whole slew of tech startups, publishers, and educational institutions have poured significant energy and money into placing digital courses into classrooms across the country that simulate the kind of one-on-one tutoring that can adapt to an individual student's needs.

????We're getting closer, but we're not there yet. "If I were the head of a 1.1 million student system, it's not like I could pick a single model; we are by no means near that," says the Gates Foundation's Benson.

????The Gates Foundation has invested just under $9 million in a program administered by education nonprofit EDUCAUSE that will allow 20 schools to figure out a solid, financially sustainable way to achieve personalized learning as part of a program called Next Generation Learning Challenges. All of the schools awarded grants will use some combination of digital and traditional instruction.