21st century education: What might it look like?

I feel like things are on the cusp.  We are approaching a critical mass.  Something has to give.

These are some of the thoughts and gut feelings I get when thinking about where I see education in five or ten years.  Attendance is an issue.  Submission of work is an issue.  Student engagement is an issue.  I don't think anyone will argue that our students are changing, or that life outside our schools are changing.  However, not many can deny that we as educators are not changing.

Walk into any class and ask yourself how different it is from 15-20 years ago?  My guess is that it is not very different.  Sure there might be a few more computers in the classroom, most students have their cell phone or iPod touch, there might be SmartBoard or projector, but the structure of the environment is much the same.  The teacher leads the learning, the student assimilate that knowledge and spit out some work that demonstrates they 'know' the 'stuff'.

This educational structure has been in place for a few centuries, since the establishment of public education.  It is a structure that has served our society well.  It can't be denied that such a structure is an immense factor in the high literacy rate, the industrial development and the wealth of our society.  But we must understand what need that educational system served.

With the development of our industrial society, we needed literate individuals who could follow a process and be part of an assembly line.  It was important to know specific, and limited information by heart.  A worker needed to know what was coming down the assembly line and what was needed at the next stop along that line.  Our education system developed to produce people who fit into that model.

We no longer live in an industrial age.  There can be no denying that industry and manufacturing are still a vital part of our economy and our lives, but much of that manufacturing is being automated or being sent to other countries.  Our economy is becoming one that depends on information.  Our society reflects this.  We live with a constant stream of information bombarding us, the new jobs of our economy will be ones that make sense or manipulate or manage all of that information.  Mobile technology is also changing the 'when' and 'where' of those jobs.  Why does something need to be done between the hours of 9am and 5pm anymore?  If we have constant access to information no matter where we are, then hours of operation become more flexible.

If this is the world we live in, then we need to prepare our students for that world.  We need to rethink our model of education.  We need to change.  So what will this change look like?  I don't know, but I can hazard a few guesses.

When working with information the most important skill is to think critically.  Working with information requires higher order thinking.  You need those skills to analyze, synthesize and evaluate the information you are working with.  So those are the skills that our students need to develop.  I have noticed a shift in focus towards this over the past few years.  However, we need more, it needs to be a core element of every class.  We need to move beyond simply asking students to regurgitate information, they need to understand it and make judgements on it.  The internet and the digitization of most of our information has made the need to mentally retain information less important.  In the past it was beneficial to remember as much as you could, it was faster than looking it up in books.  The innumerable databases and Google has made the search for information much faster.  At work if you need some information you can look it up quickly.  Efficiency and effectiveness in the work place are no longer dependant on the retention of information.  Instead it lies in the ability to sift through information and make sound judgements and decisions.

Collaboration is another crucial skill that will be required.  This is perhaps where new technologies will have the largest impact on the shape of our classes.  If students are to collaborate, they get together.  New mobile devices and social media allow them to collaborate without physically meeting.  In a sense it alters the meaning of time and space in an educational setting.  Students can work at their convenience.  While deadlines should not be lessened or not stressed, some students may choose to work in the evenings, or on the long bus ride home.

Students arrive at school and have a good understanding of using social media.  Our task would be to harness that basic understanding and refine it.  Just as they need to be taught how to think, they need to be taught how to work effectively in a group.

My next post will look at the idea of mastery and learning objectives.