So much has changed over the past hundred years. Technology has transformed the way we communicate and do business. We’ve made significant strides in medical research, disease treatment and quality of life. Yet, our education system, the system that is meant to prepare students for jobs in these fields, has remained largely the same.
At the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, we’re looking to turn this assembly-line approach to educating students on its head. We envision a system where students are at the center, where learning is personalized, competency-based, takes place anytime, anywhere, and where students take ownership over their education. Teachers act as coaches instead of lecturing, preparing learners with the skills they need to succeed after high school such as collaboration, communication and problem-solving.
We’re not the only ones who have a new vision for education. Here are three videos we have our eyes on that you’ll want to watch now:
1. “Build a School in the Cloud”
In this TED talk, education professor Sugatra Mitra shares his wish for the future of education: “Help me design the School in the Cloud…where children can explore and learn from each other – using learning resources and mentoring from the cloud.” Mitra argues that current education systems are designed to create “identical people for a machine that no longer exists.” He shares results from his “Hole in the Wall” project – a project where he installed a computer with internet access in an urban slum in New Delhi, and left it there. Mitra found that creating an environment that stimulates curiosity can lead to learning through self-instruction and peer sharing.
2. “Changing Education Paradigms”
This whiteboard animation video, adapted from a presentation given by world-renowned education expert Sir Ken Robinson, argues that in order to prepare students for the future, we need to change the entire paradigm of education. Sir Ken Robinson argues that the public education system was designed in industrial times with an economic imperative – to sort and cull students to either go onto higher education or work in factories.
3. “I Just Sued the School System”
Spoken word artist Prince EA calls the American school system to the stand as an “American institution that has outlived its usage” in this video. He makes the case for reshaping the education system to respond to the needs of individuals. “If we can customize healthcare, cars, and Facebook pages, it is our duty to do the same for education,” he argues.
What’s your vision for the future of education? Share it with us by tweeting to @StudentCntrHub.