Doing away with the traditional grade structure in schools and allowing students learn at their own paces is one change possibly coming to schools of the future, according to Horry County Schools superintendent Cindy Elsberry.

She also thinks the 12th grade might be eliminated in the near future. A transitional year where students work closely with colleges and universities would take its place.

“Education is going to change a lot in the next 10 years and might be unrecognizable to generations past,” Elsberry said. “That has a lot of parents on edge, but something has to change for our students to be ready for the jobs of the future.”

Education is already changing in Horry County Schools with students getting personalized lesson plans and incorporating technology into every day tasks.

It is also changing at the college level with four-year universities offering degrees in fewer than four years and two-year colleges offering more technical, hands-on programs.

In Horry County Schools in January, all middle schoolers received iPads to use for everything from math and science to English and history projects.

Whittemore Park Middle School has even taken the iPads to the next level by offering students a dashboard, or lesson plan on the iPad, that tells them what they need to accomplish to move on to the next lesson.

This allows students to work at their own paces during class rather than having teachers teaching everyone the same thing at the same time.

Elsberry said that change makes grade levels more fluid.

“If a student is working at their own pace, some are going to be faster and some are going to need more time,” she said. “Why would we want to hold back some or make some move forward when they are not ready if we don’t have to? Why not let them advance when they are ready?”

That idea can be taken a step further by eliminating grade levels.

Elsberry said every student could start school at age 4 or 5 and then move through the levels as he or she is developmentally ready.

Some students might take six months to master the first grade curriculum and some might need nine or 10 months. Either way, students would be able to make sure they had mastered the information before they moved on.

Elsberry said the end goal for all students would be a career or college.

“With students moving at their own pace, some will finish before the set 12th-grade year,” she said. “That is where the partnership with colleges and universities would come in to play more.”

Currently, Elsberry said a number of students are well into college by the time they walk across the Horry County Schools’ graduation stage.

“With the AP courses, the Early College High School, the academies and the Scholars Academy, many of our students have at least three college credits on their transcript when they graduate,” she said. “That will increase more as we allow students to move at their own pace.”

What about higher education in 10 years?

Coastal Carolina University Pres. David DeCenzo said he isn’t sure what a college education will look like in 10 years because no one knows what the jobs will be.

“A liberal arts education will always be needed so that students will learn to think critically and communicate, but beyond that I don’t know what kind of programs we will offer or what training we will offer for jobs.”

However, DeCenzo said the idea of moving students at their own pace rather than on a set schedule is where universities are headed as well.

“We are starting to explore the idea of offering bachelor’s degrees in three years and then adding on a master’s degree for the fourth year,” he said. “We know that students learn at different speeds, so why should we keep someone who has mastered a task in a class when they could move forward?”

Technology is also playing a factor in learning on CCU’s campus.

“We have quite a few new professors that have been exposed to technology a lot longer than our senior faculty and they are incorporating that into their classes,” DeCenzo said. “We have to find a balance for technology in the classroom and how students are using it. All of that will take time.”

Technology also affects infrastructure.

“Students are unbelievably connected and we have to take that into consideration when we are wiring buildings,” DeCenzo said. “Ten to 15 years ago, we used to be able to wire our buildings one way for bandwidth, but now we have to take into consideration that most students have a laptop or tablet, a phone and a music device.”

What about technical education?

Horry Georgetown Technical College Pres. Neyle Wilson said blending high school and technical colleges is where he sees the future of education going.

“We are already doing this in Horry County with the Early College High School and the Scholars Academy,” he said. “By the time students reach the 10th grade, they are already working toward a college degree. That idea could be expanded to more students in the future.”

He also sees more students getting technical degrees rather than four-year college degrees.

“If you went to college and got a degree when I went to school 50 years ago, the gates opened up for you and you were most likely going to be successful,” he said. “That isn’t the case anymore. There are certain degrees at a four-year college that don’t have a guaranteed career path or job at graduation. That is why I see more students getting a technical degree that leads directly into a job.”

Both of Horry’s higher education leaders said they see more classes and courses going online.

“There will always be that core group of students who will attend classes on a college campus, but I see a lot more people taking online classes to further their education in the next 10 years than ever before,” Wilson said.

Will it all work?

Elsberry said the only way many of these ideas to improve and change education will work is if the standards for education at the state and federal level change.

Currently, South Carolina requires all students to have 180 hours of “seat time” to complete a grade.

Elsberry said a group created that standard many years ago and it stuck.

She said the order students must take classes in will also need to be changed.

“Right now if you ask someone why students need 180 hours or why students take biology first, chemistry second and physics last, many people won’t know the answer,” she said. “The reason why students take those classes in that order isn’t because of some study done that says students will learn better that way, it is because they are in alphabetical order. That strikes me as funny.”

Another factor is how the school building looks.

If Horry County Schools wants more blended learning with technology and the ability for a student to move at their own paces, Elsberry said schools will have to look different.

“We are currently looking at new prototypes for schools that will allow for more open space for teachers to work with small groups and other students will work on their own or in a group with technology,” she said. “In order to do that, we have looked at schools with glass classrooms that enable a teacher to monitor every student whether or not they are in the physical classroom.”

Another hurdle Elsberry foresees is the community.

“So many parents aren’t comfortable with changes in education because they are only used to what they went through,” she said. “They know that their education worked for them and it should be good enough for their kids, but in today’s technology age that isn’t the best scenario.”

Elsberry said the community is used to the industrial-style assembly line education where everyone moves forward with a lesson or grade at the same time.

“That model doesn’t fit our students anymore,” she said. “Today’s classroom is real time, hands on and interactive, and students need a different style of teaching for that. We need to personalize and customize learning for each student.”

Wilson said educating the community is the key.

“As the parents become better educated as to what is offered to their children, they are more likely to accept it. There are many options out there and not all of them lead to a four-year college degree,” he said.