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perience with SMART Boards running Notebook software, so I convinced the principal to invest in SMART technology."

"We've seen nearly a 10 percent improvement in TAKS pass rates in just two years, as well as an 11 percent increase in math scores on the junior high campus," says Franklin. "These improvements show that the kids are more involved in the learning process. And I believe their increased involvement is directly attributable to the fact that they can interact with the information that is being presented to them on the SMART Boards."

"We've seen nearly a 10 percent improvement in TAKS pass rates in just two years, as well as an 11 percent increase in math scores on the junior high campus," says Franklin. "These improvements show that the kids are more involved in the learning process. And I believe their increased involvement is directly attributable to the fact that they can interact with the information that is being presented to them on the SMART Boards."

The paradigm shift rate (i.e., the overall rate of technical progress) is currently doubling (approximately) every decade; that is, paradigm shift times are halving every decade (and the rate of acceleration is itself growing exponentially). So, the technological progress in the twenty-first century will be equivalent to what would require (in the linear view) on the order of 200 centuries. In contrast, the twentieth century saw only about 25 years of progress (again at today’s rate of progress) since we have been speeding up to current rates. So the twenty-first century will see almost a thousand times greater technological change than its predecessor.

An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense “intuitive linear” view. So we won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century — it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate). The “returns,” such as chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase exponentially. There’s even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth. Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence, leading to The Singularity — technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. The implications include the merger of biological and nonbiological intelligence, immortal software-based humans, and ultra-high levels of intelligence that expand outward in the universe at the speed of light.

Some have reported attrition from eLearning as high as 70 - 80% (Flood 2002, Forrester 2000, in Dagger & Wade, 2004). Parker (1999) argues that “With the growth of distance education has come the problem of exceedingly high attrition rates”. Citing Carter (1996), she suggests that eLearning student attrition in some institutions is exceeds 40%, while others (Frankola, 2001). Diaz (2002), put it at between 20 - 50%,  and Carr (2000), estimate it to be 10% - 20% higher than for traditional on-campus education.