“The science of today is technology of tomorrow.”- Bill Gates.
Colleges and universities have generally been quick to adopt new technologies, often even before their educational value has been proven. Throughout history, higher education has experimented with technological advances as diverse as the blackboard and the personal computer. Some technologies have also become permanent parts of the higher educational enterprises. For example, a 16-millimeter movie projector, have been replaced with sophisticated and more cost-effective technologies. Technology has the potential to revolutionize the traditional teaching and learning process. It can eliminate the barriers imposed by space and time and dramatically expand access to lifelong learning. Students no longer have to meet at the same time to learn together from an instructor.Computers and telecommunications are the principal technologies reshaping higher education. Due to advances in each of these domains, electronic mail, fax machines, the World Wide Web, CDROMs, and commercially developed simulations and courseware are altering the daily operations and expanding the missions of colleges and universities.
Powerful forces are promoting higher education's adoption of new technologies. The rapid advance of globalisation, that is lowering international barriers and transforming the business world, is also expanding the potential reach of colleges and universities. For example, Northeastern University’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) center serves as a connecting link between university’s science, engineering, and math programs and the education programs and seeks to play a key role in improving STEM education. While technology helps to promote collaborative learning, it also helps to personalise and individualise education. By reducing the need to deliver avast amount of information, technology can free an instructor to devote more time to individual students.
If education's goal is to help the learner reach his or her full potential, why should education be designed for the convenience of the instructor or the educational institution? Essentially, technology is empowering learners to take more control of their education than ever before. The expanded reach that technology affords educational institutions has encouraged many new providers to offer educational services. This increased competition enables students to choose the learning opportunities that best meet their needs within the constraints of their life circumstances. As technology transforms the educational marketplace, the balance of power is shifting from the education provider to the education consumer. Education consumers are now freer to pick and choose, from a variety of sources, the learning opportunities that meet their goals.
Gurbani Gandhi