Class of 2.0

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Li’l Jack will be waking early. His tablet PC has already downloaded the day’s lessons while a few beeps on mum’s computer let her know if any one of his teachers is on a day off.

A shower and a comb later, Li’l Jack will be dressed in a high-tech uniform designed to register impacts. So, if the Maths teacher goes at him with a cane, mum and dad are sure to know and then, there will be trouble.
There’s also his lunch-box, which prescribes a diet that’ll take mum’s precious through Shakespeare, soccer practice and a whole lot of running around.
Welcome to the Class of 2.0 — a connected, digital hub of knowledge that could, for all you know, automate schooling.
Riding on innovations such as tablet computers, high-speed broadband and live streaming, this classroom is not about Page 75, boring diagrams and dog-eared notebooks. It’s about taking students to the very edge of learning, to the very end of doubt and making sure Li’l Jack’s mind goes through gibabytes of data every time his hand shoots up in class.

Let there be lyte!
The concept’s already being adopted by schools in yes, America. Just a few days ago, surprised students wrote an exam that delivered results instantly, because answers were being fed into iPads — imagine parents monitoring your board exams just by sitting at home. No more, ‘don’t worry dad, I’m beating Mr. Mathur’s daughter’ and ‘mum, I’m just two marks away from being an astronaut’. The future’s transparent and non-negotiable so, you can forget about lying — shudder!

Please recharge your homework
Also, no more 50-kilo schoolbags for Li’l Jack. Almost everything is tucked away in a compact digital notebook that can even store data from previous years. Imagine having Kindergarten scribble still available in that ‘notebook’. If you’re moving to a new school, teachers could retrieve and study EVERYTHING you’ve ‘expressed’ since you were two-feet tall — shudder, again!

Are you guys joking?
Not really. Billions are being pumped into these few words; ‘don’t worry, we’ll take care of your child’. And it’s this promise that Li’l Jack is being treated to. Firms like Cisco, with its distance-crunching TelePresence, have long been in the business of creating cross-Atlantic boardrooms. Now, that very same set of wires have found their way into classrooms.
Impact suits designed for warzones may just find their way to the principal’s office if legislation against caning is passed and nutrition? Well, since we already have chef Jamie Oliver prescribing diets for British schools, it’s certainly not far fetched to assume some scientist is thinking up a lunch box that alerts mums if they’ve been generous with the butter.

What about the teachers?
Oh, they’ll benefit the most. Ever since the first one decided to take her class under a tree instead of being barricaded inside blue walls, the need to teach amid nature has been a dream for many.
Imagine taking science class with a 3D hologram of the planets or ‘taking’ the class to Serengiti to show tots why lions are so awesome. Knowledge has always crossed boundaries and for Li’l Jack, with his impact suit and fancy lunch-box, school could just be the coolest part of his life — and remember, if it isn’t, there sure will be a ‘beep’ somewhere.