W.
Lewis Johnson, director of the Center for Advanced Research in
Technology for Education (CARTE) at USC’s Information Sciences Institute,
looks forward to a USC education that is not only improved by new
technology, but becomes a lifelong learning experience by virtue of the
technology. Johnson, who is also a research associate professor in the
USC Viterbi School of Engineering department of computer science, sees
“a real upcoming revolution in the way people learn. I think that the
way people learn 50 years from now will be very much different from the
mode nowadays, which is dominated by sitting in classrooms listening to
professors talk. I think we will change that. New interactive
technologies are going to empower learners in ways that just are
not possible at the present time.” Johnson’s work on “Tactical Iraqi,”
a computer game that is now being used to teach Arabic language and
customs to Iraq-bound soldiers, has received national publicity and won
him a rare “significant technical achievement” award from the Defense
Advanced Projects Research Agency, which funded the research. Johnson sees these new technologies
continuing to reach students even after they graduate.
“We’ve seen some
of that with the advent of the web, but it’s going to ccelerate,
so I think it’s very important for USC actually to be in the forefront.
I think one thing which has been very encouraging here is that the
School has been promoting advanced learning technologies in its own
curriculum,” he says. “I think that 50 years from now, when students
come to USC, they’re going to have an experience that they will take
with them, a life-long connection in which they will be continually
able to come back, further develop their skills, and USC will
become, in essence a partner in our alumni’s lives.”
