Reading. Variant 4

Read the following text. Match the people 1-5 to the sentence endings a-f. There is one extra sentence ending.

1 Jeff______  

2 Sally ______  

3 Martin ______  

4 Paula ______  

5 Bill ______  

a sends work to his/her teacher online.

b thinks that all students will use laptops at school in the future.

c says teachers will use technology more than students in the future.

d is a student whose teacher doesn’t like using technology.

e thinks that teachers should teach students more about using technology.

f thinks that students will use their phones to learn in the future.

/5

Technology in education

Jeff My two children have just started school but I think by the time they’re at secondary school, they’ll be using quite different technology in the classroom from today’s kids. I think all classrooms will have wireless connections and kids will use laptops. It’s unlikely that there will be any books. Students are already using less paper and fewer books so I think they’re going to disappear. That’s good because then kids won’t have to carry books, just a laptop.

Sally I think there’s about to be an explosion of new technology for the classroom. The power and speed of technology devices doubles every eighteen months while the prices decrease by thirty-five per cent so soon computers will be cheap enough for schools to have in every classroom. Students will need to be well-qualified in IT for just about any job, I think. I use technology more and more with my students. That’s what we should be teaching them.

Martin I’m at secondary school and we don’t really use much technology in class. There’s a computer room but we hardly ever use it because our teacher doesn’t like computers. I think students in the future will have to study more about technology and use it more in class. I think in ten years time students will all be using small handheld computers with touch screens.

Paula The company I work for is developing new technology for smartphones. Older people complain about the size of their laptop screens but kids don’t mind small screens. With smartphones, learning will be possible any time and anywhere. There are already some interactive applications that are available and approved for schools and more will be coming out soon.

Bill Online learning at university level is growing at about seventeen per cent a year. The quality is better than it used to be. It’s less expensive, too, which is why I decided to do this course rather than a conventional course. There’s an online chat forum for everyone on my course to discuss questions and our timetable and important announcements all come directly to my mobile. I can send my essays directly to my teacher and upload things onto the course website. I think universities will all be virtual in the future.

Read the text again. Answer the questions.

What does Jeff think is going to disappear from classrooms?

Read the text again. Answer the questions.

According to Sally, how much cheaper do computers get every eighteen months?