Warm-up
Answer a few quick questions before today's lesson about the future of schools and technology in education.
Listening
You are going to hear a podcast presenter discussing the future of schools and classrooms. For each question, choose the correct answer — A, B, or C.
Future Schools — Listening: EduTalk Podcast
Read each question and all three options carefully before the recording begins. You will hear the podcast twice.
Reading
Future Schools — Reading: Future Teachers, Maybe
Read the article carefully. Then answer the questions — six True/False statements and six multiple-choice questions.
Read the article about robots in education, then answer the questions on the right.
Future Teachers, Maybe
If you think of the jobs robots could never do, you would probably put doctors and teachers at the top of the list. It's easy to imagine robot cleaners and factory workers, but some jobs need human connection and creativity. But are we underestimating what robots can do? In some cases, they already perform better than doctors at diagnosing illness. Also, some patients might feel more comfortable sharing personal information with a machine than with a person. Could there be a place for robots in education after all?
British education expert Anthony Seldon thinks so. And he even has a date for the robot takeover of the classroom: 2027. He predicts robots will do the main job of transferring information, and teachers will be like assistants. Intelligent robots will read students' faces, movements, and maybe even brain signals. Then they will adapt the information to each student. It's not a popular opinion, and it's unlikely robots will ever have empathy and the ability to really connect with humans like another human can.
One thing is certain, though. A robot teacher is better than no teacher at all. In some parts of the world, there aren't enough teachers, and 9–16 per cent of children under the age of 14 don't go to school. That problem could be partly solved by robots because they can teach anywhere and won't get stressed, tired, or move somewhere for an easier, higher-paid job.
Those negative aspects of teaching are something everyone agrees on. Teachers all over the world are leaving because it is a difficult job and they feel overworked. Perhaps the question is not 'Will robots replace teachers?' but 'How can robots help teachers?' Office workers can use software to do things like organise and answer emails, arrange meetings, and update calendars. Teachers waste a lot of time doing non-teaching work, including more than 11 hours a week marking homework. If robots could cut the time teachers spend marking homework and writing reports, teachers would have more time and energy for the parts of the job humans do best.
Vocabulary Practice
Three exercises using 12 key words from the article and the podcast.
Future Schools — Vocabulary Practice
Work through all three parts. All 12 words come from the article and the podcast transcript.
Teacher Guide
Practise with
- adaptverb
to change your behaviour or adjust to new conditions or situations
- adaptive learningnoun
an educational approach in which technology adjusts content and difficulty to match each student's individual needs
- administrativeadjective
Relating to the management of organisation, procedures, and systems in institutions.
- caveatnoun
An important warning or condition that affects whether something is true or possible.
- collaborationnoun
The act of working together with others to achieve a shared goal or project.
- curriculumnoun
all the subjects and courses taught at a school
- diagnoseverb
to identify and determine the exact nature or cause of a disease or problem through examination.
- empathynoun
the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person
- overworkedadjective
made to work too hard or too many hours; given more work than is reasonable
- portfolionoun
a collection of work samples or investments that shows someone's skills and achievements
- takeovernoun
when one company buys another company or when a group takes control of something
- underestimateverb
to think that something is less important, serious, or valuable than it actually is