Medford/Somerville, Mass. – Anticipating a host of new trends in education, CNN's Financial News turned to a Tufts expert to explain the impact technology will have in schools in the 21st century.

   "Certainly, I think one of the most important challenges that will be facing teachers in the 21st century is knowing how to meet the needs of the diverse students in their classroom," Linda Beardsley, director of teacher education at Tufts University, told CNNfn.

   And technology may provide the answers, she said. "One of the things that we're doing at Tufts University is we're working very closely with public school districts to train veteran teachers to work effectively with computers in the classroom."

   According to Beardsley, partnerships, like those developed between Tufts and local schools, are extremely important to inspire and train the next generation of technologically-savvy teachers. "I think that those of us who teach teachers and those of us who work with schools, understand how awesome it is that people are discovering new ideas. They're applying formulas. They're learning new potential about themselves."

Online: http://www.tufts.edu/communications/printable/082800ExpertInvisionsClassroomOfFuture