Conclusion: The Author's Views

Experts from all fields, including education, business, and government agree that we have moved into the information age. As much as 97% of the world's knowledge will be accumulated over one person's lifetime (Molitor, 1998). Against statistics like this, teaching students a host of facts "just in case" they need them later on in life is a fruitless effort. The ability to find and use facts as they are needed becomes the skill that will enable students to become lifelong learners. The roll of education is no longer to provide educational opportunities through early adulthood, but to provide the scaffolding necessary to support individuals and families from all walks of life, throughout their entire lives. In order to prevent a further widening between the upper and lower classes, it will become increasingly important for educational institutions to provide this support by providing weeknight and weekend adult classes focused on emerging technologies. 

Very soon we can look for interactive video technologies to allow parents to play a more active role in their children's education (e.g. watching a class presentation via online video). Schools that actively pursue such avenues will be in great demand. School days will grow to seven hours in length to provide more instruction and to meet the needs of dual income families. As more states pass school voucher initiatives, a greater dependency upon private education will result. 
Schools will compete to hire teachers, raising teacher salaries. Dissatisfaction with public 
education and national and statewide acceptance of school vouchers will cause the private and home schooling markets to grow well into the next century.