ABSTRACT
Most of us have been to school. We all know what it means to be educated. We have learned to read, write and do arithmetic (the famous 3Rs). An ‘educated’ guess would be that ninety percent of the readers will have become educated by means of traditional educational tools: blackboard, textbooks and classes. Even in the face of the broad spectrum of school systems world-wide, the basics of education have been rather consistent over the past decades. The advent of information and communication technologies, however, promises to disrupt the traditional concepts of education and training, of learning and teaching. It is often stated that the new learning tools will change our perspective on learning and teaching in less than a generation. Teachers will be replaced by advanced computer programmes, pupils will learn at home and there will be no need for them to meet in badly equipped classrooms. Everyone will profit from the opportunity of being taught by the best of all teachers by means of distance learning through electronic networks. School boards will be able to follow the progress of their pupils online. Teachers do not have to spend hours and hours painstakingly correcting their pupils’ work. The burden of teaching and learning will be lessened and will be replaced by a more cheerful, pleasant and effective form of teaching and learning.
