News that Pearson, the world's largest textbook publisher, is phasing out print publications for higher education to adopt a resolutely digital-first policy may signal an eventual full stop for traditional book learning. In the view of Mike Buchanan, executive director of HMC, which represents independent school head teachers, digital education will unlock a less rigid approach to classroom-based learning, as well as enable closer collaboration with pupils' families. "In a growing number of schools, the use of modern management information and recording systems to harvest details of classroom activities and pupil progress is already allowing parents to access and aggregate their child's attainment records," he says. "In the future, this will no doubt see the traditional termly report being replaced by daily digital updates." Mr Buchanan predicts individual academic achievement will be charted by artificial intelligence (AI), rather than by a plethora of exams, and argues that for teachers disenchanted by the current need to "teach to the test", the freedom to pursue a more rounded curriculum will foster a new optimism.

In the classrooms of the future, students will no longer have to sit down for exams. Instead, they will be busy working together to solve the problems of the world. This is how Dr Abdulla Al Karam, director-general of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), sees the future of learning in Dubai, as he explained during a session at Gitex Technology Week on Wednesday, October 9. "In the future, classrooms will be replaced by open, collaborative spaces that bring students of different ages and abilities together. This will encourage students to work together on solving real-world problems from a very young age, allowing schools to completely move away from tests and exams," said Dr Al Karam. He explained that there will also be more'teachers' powered by artificial intelligence (AI). "Automation and artificial intelligence are changing every aspect of our life and, over the coming years, AI teachers will transform the classrooms that we see today."