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Future scenarios
- Are we undergoing a new communications revolution?
- If so, how does it compare to past communications revolutions?
- Are we prepared for this revolution?
- Where are things going?
- What will the students of the future look like?
- What will the classroom of the future look like?
We need to come to terms with the fact that the basis for the educational vision of the future will be radically different to those visions which informed schooling of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Traditional education has been based on the transmission theory, ie, one person transfers information to others who passively take it in at the same rate as all the others while continuing to focus on the person at the front of the room.
The learner of today and into the future needs to be an active learning partner rather than the passive recipient, "subject to a universally applied educational experience" where there is a one-size-fits-all solution. There is now a greater emphasis on the need for learners to be actively constructing knowledge in stimulating environments that encourage the exchange of information, recognise the importance of building on prior knowledge and offer opportunities for rehearsal and feedback.
The need has become imperative because of the emergence of digital technologies and as we move into the future learning will become more connected with greater access to information and resources.
Digital technologies will promote:
The ability to work with and learn from a range of communities of interest and practice without the constraints of time and place and this will open up a whole range of possibilities for the reconfiguring of learning spaces.
The creation of international learning communities will become increasingly achievable as will opportunities for authentic learning with the increased ability to connect with, share information and learn from others.
Opportunities to generate, share, edit and publish materials will continue to grow, as will the emergence of new forms of digital creativity.
All of the above will encourage and facilitate greater collaboration rather than individualism. Social software now part of everyday life for many will grow in popularity and offer huge potential for the self organisation of learning and peer to peer interaction.
As information sources and resources proliferate it will be increasingly important for learners to know how to acquire and build knowledge in social contexts, how to assess its quality and how best to apply it. It is time to re-imagine and re-think relationships between staff and pupils and the processes learners go through as they progress through the education system.
As examples of the above and to show how digital technologies can be seamlessly integrated into learning the www.belmoresouthpublicschool.edublogs.org site was displayed .
The session became an exploration of what has been possible at BSPS which I guess is a future scenario. As the presenter this is not the way I wished the Session to necessarily head:however, the group wanted it to go that way. They were lucky (and so was I . . . thank you to my staff) that there was plenty of material to draw upon and talk about.
What I had intended to have thegroup discuss was what teaching, learning, resourcing and content might look like in any or all of the future scenarios suggested by Ultralab or to perhaps design their own.
Heppell,Chapman,Millwood,Constable and Furness(2004) Building Learning Futures, ULTRALAB suggested four scenarios outlining radically different directions that could be taken and which could influence the design of future learning environments.
ONE: No physical school at all. Learners are in the home learning from each other and experts who are online and maybe located in any part of the world. Tutors monitor and support vast numbers of learners who are following highly personalised curriculum.
TWO: The "dissolved secondary school" which is like a university with faculty centres spread across town each concentrating on an area of expertise. This model is a shared resource for the whole community with learners being of any age and offers greater potential for flexibility and a strong emphasis on lifelong learning.
THREE: The 'extended' school is so all embracing that it is the community. Life is spent on the campus and learning can take place wherever and whenever it is needed rather than following a traditional timetable. It offers almost infinite flexibility.
FOUR: The fortress school. Security is all. The learners are protectedfrom society from behind high walls, watched by security cameras and focussing at all times on the business of formal learning until they are ready to be reintroduced to the dangers of society.
References:
Gilbert Review (2007) Education 2020
S.Heppell, C.Chapman,R. Millwood, M.Constable and J.Furness(2004) Building Learning Futures, ULTRALAB
Tim Rudd, Carolyn Gifford, Jo Morrison and Keri Facer (2006) What if . . . re-imagining learning spaces, Futurelab.
Will Richardson (2006) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts . . . Corwin Press Ca.