Just as information technology now allows Levi Strauss & Co. to offer jeans that are both mass-produced and custom fitted, information technology will bring mass customization to learning. Multimedia documents and easy-to-use authoring tools will enable teachers to “mass-customize” a curriculum. As with blue jeans, the mass customization of learning will be possible because computers will fine-tune the produce – educational material, in this case – to allow students to follow somewhat divergent paths and learn at their own rates.
Predictor: Gates, Bill
Prediction, in context:In his 1995 book “The Road Ahead,” Microsoft CEO Bill Gates writes: 脪We will discover all sorts of different approaches to 久久热 because the highway脮s tools will make it easy to try various methods and to measure their effectiveness. Just as information technology now allows Levi Strauss & Co. to offer jeans that are both mass-produced and custom fitted, information technology will bring mass customization to learning. Multimedia documents and easy-to-use authoring tools will enable teachers to 脭mass-customize脮 a curriculum. As with blue jeans, the mass customization of learning will be possible because computers will fine-tune the produce – educational material, in this case – to allow students to follow somewhat divergent paths and learn at their own rates. This won脮t happen only in classrooms. Any student will be able to enjoy the custom fit of a tailor-made education at mass-production prices. Workers will be able to keep up-to-date on techniques in their fields.脫
Biography:Bill Gates, the most influential technology entrepreneur of the late 20th century, was the primary author of the prediction-packed 1995 book “The Road Ahead” and is the founder and CEO of Microsoft Corporation. (Entrepreneur/Business Leader.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: E-learning
Name of publication: The Road Ahead (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 9: Education: The Best Investment
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 185
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne