Beyond Current Horizons

FutureLab are doing what they do best, i.e. gazing far into the future. You can also help them by voting to compile a list of the most important issues for our future students. A vast database of academic papers will be created to help form a picture of education in 2025. This long term vision for education in the context of socio-technological change, will (apparently) help us plan to ensure our digital natives learn in a manner that best suits them! Apparently recent research is already pointing towards a shift in learning models :

TRADITIONAL Vs NETWORKED

Written -------------- Audio/visual
Static ------------------ Mobile
Prolonged ------------- Instant
Face to Face ----------- Blended
Tutor led --------------- self directed
Localised ---------------Networked

It's a pity traditional teaching styles are still primarily delivered on transmissionist principles. Try some active learning ideas.

This 2008 JISC report helps to understand the current state of play regarding formal Vs informal learning. And this excellent futrelab report on social software and learning highlights the need to push the creative side in learning development and how we are all learning to collaborate better, using Web 2.0 type tools.

Sir Ken Robinson discusses the need for creativity to be on a par with literacy in our future young learners.



It's all about the preferred styles, I think. And the multitasking, want it now/Mcdonalds/mashup culture. And not over testing our school kids. And... not running an education system based on league tables, where learning to learn is bottom of the agenda.