The SCience fiction writers got this one wrong. They speculated that we would all be sitting at home in front of screens and cameras, being able to attend school from home - under the watchful eye of the lecturers. Somehow, we those of us who live in this future know ; attending online classes is not half as much the fun as they were made out to be. Not being able to eye the pretty girls, not being able to pass notes or poke fun at the tics of the funnily accented professor are just a few of the shortcomings.

But that doesnt mean that technology shouldnt come to the classroom at all. Have a look at these multi touch desks which will totally redefine class learning. Its going to make it so much simpler to explain hypothetical concepts as well as advanced science to the tiny tots now. England's Durham University, researchers received about $3 million to create SynergyNet, a system of infrared-sensitive multi-touch desks for children.

The goal is to improve collaboration between students and with their teachers, and to engage "hard to reach" kids, especially boys who are increasingly disenfranchised. The desks will be networked and linked to a main smartboard offering new opportunities for teaching and collaboration. Several students will be able to work together at a desk as the desks allow simultaneous screen contact by multiple users using fingers or pens.

A single work-desk can operate as a set of individual work spaces and/or a large screen allowing students to cooperate on a task. The software will be used to link everything together in a fully interactive classroom system of desks and smartboards.

Teachers will be able to instantly display examples of good work by students on the main smart-board; tasks could also be set for each individual desk. Numeracy tasks could include exercises where pupils have to split a restaurant bill by sliding visual representations of money into a group space.

Not only does it let kids share their work and even their desks with others for group activities, but the high-end processing includes video support and a game-quality physics engine. The possibilities are endless.