Twenty-two years ago computers were not a topic of conversation in most homes or grade schools; While universities had mainframes, these were limited to specific subjects and to research. Twenty years ago, personal computers were becoming known thanks to the Apple Corporation. Fifteen years ago IBM PC's and the Apple Macintosh were beginning to vie for the use of personal computers in the home. The last ten years of computer and communications development has made the former decade appear to move a snail's pace. The improvement of computer speed and the development of multimedia applications, specifically sound and video, and the ability to transfer this information via the Internet and particularly through the web has brought technology to the forefront of society. This makes the application of technology to any aspect of life 22 years from now is almost inconceivable. Anything imagined know is almost certain to be an underestimation.

Currently, universities and high schools are feeling the pressure of using technology as a tool for education. High schools desiring to provide college prep courses for their students are turning to universities to provide this education in house via the web. Within the universities, faculty members are slowly using the Internet as a communicative tool. Teachers are putting syllabi and homework assignments on the web and accepting students' work in electronic format. Complete classes over the web are being explored and new educational interfaces are being designed for this task. It is completely imaginable that by the year 2020 students will be able to take many collegiate courses at home.

Time at campus may become shorter as core requirements are met through web based classes. However students will still need to come campus to take lab courses and use libraries.

Colleges will still serve as a right of passage and period of social development in life. Perhaps in forty years as the next generation spends less time at school they will not feel the social value of a college education was as valuable as we view it today. They will then feel less compelled to send their children off to a remote campus primarily for an academic education that they can receive for less money at home.

One of the best uses of technology in twenty-two years could be the number of books in electronic format available to the general public. This would not only be a tremendous asset to research, but to individual education regardless of age or academic experience.