EDUCAUSE 2014: What IBM’s Watson could bring to higher education — from edtechmagazine.com by D. Frank Smith
Cognitive computing-powered tutors could spark a new age of discovery for students.

Excerpt:

IBM’s Watson, a cognitive computing system that simulates the human thought process, could soon be peering over teacher’s shoulders in classrooms, the company said at EDUCAUSE 2014 on Wednesday.

Several of IBM’s top education leaders hosted a panel at the conference laying out Watson’s trajectory in higher education. The cognitive computer’s ability to digest large data sets and communicate with humans could open new avenues for teaching, said Michael D. King, vice president, IBM Global Education Industry.

“I think the real impact on learning will start to come in the classroom, if you can imagine intelligent tutors — a system that can truly be interactive with the learner as they’re engaging and learning the materials,” King said.