The personal computer is sparking a major historical change in the way people learn, a change that could lead to the disappearance of formal education as we know it. The computer can help resolve many of the difficulties now crippling education by enabling expert teachers and curriculum developers to prepare interactive and individualized instructional materials for wide dissemination at low cost. These changes will be made possible by the creation of a large and discriminating market for low-cost computer hardware and software. As quality materials are developed to serve this market, schools will turn increasingly to computerized and off-campus instruction. Computers will be used by schools in several ways, which must be selected on pedagogical rather than on philosophical or technological grounds. Computer-related education will concentrate on developing computer literacy, teaching programming (though preferably not BASIC), and providing computer-assisted instruction in academic areas. Teachers can prepare for the changing nature of education by studying learning theory, curriculum development, and modern programming languages, and by adopting a Socratic teaching technique; experimenting with computers; developing a critical eye for computer-based learning material; working with others; and concentrating on long range goals for education. (Author/PGD)