I have been searching a lot of education related blogs and web sites lately (that is, more than I normally do…). The ideas other educators have about the future of education and learning fascinate me. I agree with some, and disagree with a few others…but the fact remains, that the future is unknown territory for us…for a while.

Here are some quotes from two different education related articles which are attempting to answer some of these questions…

The future of learning
http://bigthink.com/ideas/31773

We can’t state explicitly or emphatically what the future of learning will look like because things are moving so fast. But we can extrapolate some general characteristics from current trends. For example, in the future our learning will be even more …

Digital rather than analog / ink on paper

Informal

Online and less dependent on local humans

Mobile

Networked / interconnected

Multimedia

Self-directed / inquiry-based

Individualized / personalized

Computer-based and software-mediated and less dependent on live humans

Open / accessible (in the sense of OER)

Project-based

Simulation– or game-based

…than it is now. We’re not going to retrench or go backward on any of these. As educators, parents, and citizens, we need to begin envisioning the implications of these characteristics for learning, teaching, and schooling.

Comment from this post:

I don’t disagree with you that this is the direction that education is taking. What I take issue with, as a parent and an educator myself, is whether this is the direction we SHOULD be taking.

Four Characteristics of Successful Teachers
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/philosophy-of-teaching/four-characteristics-of-successful-teachers

1. Presence – “The term presence for this study is defined as a deeper level of awareness that allows thoughts, feelings, and actions to be known, developed, and harmonized within. Presence is also the essence of a relationship and of interpersonal communication.” Illustrating this particular category were comments in the essays indicating how important it is for teachers to get to know their students. “The classroom should not be a sea of faceless forms,” writes one teacher. Another frequent theme in this category related to the importance of caring for students. “By caring for my students, I mean that I am genuinely interested in my students’ learning and understanding the course material, and in making a significant contribution to the success of their careers.”

2. Promotion of learning – These teachers also wrote of the importance of student learning and their roles in promoting it. They held their students and themselves to high standards, seeing students’ work in their courses and programs as preparation for lifelong learning. They also wrote of the need for students to do more than just memorize material. “Mere possession of scientific knowledge without the ability to apply it is of limited value in nursing practice,” wrote one nurse educator. Equally important was their shared view that promoting learning goes beyond content acquisition. Education is also about personal development, and teachers have a role in promoting that kind of learning as well.

3. Teachers as learners – These exemplary teachers described themselves as learners, each making it a priority to keep their teaching current. “As teachers, we must continue to re-engineer our curriculum, experiment with new and different methods of delivering course content, and bring emerging technologies into our classrooms.” These teachers valued opportunities to revise course content, to teach new courses, and to work on degree-program curricula.

4. Enthusiasm – “Effective teaching presupposes a command of the material and facility in communicating it with clarity, grace, fairness, and humor. But most of all it supposes enthusiasm.” This enthusiasm starts with a love of the content, but it goes beyond that and includes a genuine love of teaching and a passion for students and their learning. “I am also concerned that my students develop a passion for learning that goes on well after the course has ended.”

I see subtle contradistinctions here; the first article has a focus upon the student as the focus of learning (a rather progressive idea, and one which is still provocative when presented to educators in general). The seconds quote relates to some breathless and gauzy qualities which are presumed to be descriptors of a great teacher…

I see some irony here, at least with regard to some of the things I think are important. First off, I see that there is a real need for teachers, not just facilitators for student directed learning and enquiry. These theoretical future tr4ends may be fine when taken in measure, but since we are, and will be living in a very technologically based society, there is a growing significant need for teachers and students to have some familiarity with the prerequisites to these technologies (i.e. there is more to learn then student driven enquiry).

I also see that the second article, mentioned some fine attributes to anyone’s character, but failed to mention that teachers actually do need to know something in order to teach it…

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