The current K-12 education system is not designed to meet the needs of today’s learners. The education reforms that have occurred thus far have not explicitly address their unique needs. The education system seeks to refine the product without addressing the individual needs of the learner. The 21st Century student is used to getting information in a fast- paced manner and wants instant gratification. However, curriculum and teaching are not designed with advances in technology in mind. “The current educational system -the way it trains teachers, the way it groups students, the way the curriculum is designed, and the way the school buildings are laid out- out is designed for standardization” (Christensen, 2011, p. 37). Many students lack intrinsic motivation due to serious social and emotional issues that impact students’ desire to sit in the confines of four walls to receive and regurgitate information. With that said, the job of the teacher has shifted, the teacher must motivate and engage students in learning. There must be a shift from a standardized way of learning to student centered learning.
A current trend in education is the pedagogical shift to deeper learning approaches. Deeper learning is the implementation of strategies that promote inquiry-based learning, real world problem solving, critical thinking is designed to motivate students and make them more active participants in their learning (report). In the NMC/CoSN Horizon’s 2017 K-12 Edition report on trends accelerating technology, innovations like STEAM learning, coding in literacy, redesigning learning spaces for collaboration, cultures of innovation and a growth in measuring student learning are increasing in schools. The digital natives are ready for these new approaches to learning. However, the education system must address the many barriers that prevent full scale implementation in schools. Challenges that impact full implementation include providing high quality professional development to increase teacher knowledge of technological tools and skills to advance critical thinking, rigid curriculum and instructional pacing, and budgets for improved infrastructure and one to one devices.
In 5-10 years, it is my hope that teaching and learning will evolve to student centered environments. Environments where students self-select their learning and instructional technology becomes an integral part of learning. Teachers will truly fulfill their role as facilitator of learning. Accessibility to free online courses all learners will increase making knowledge available to anyone regardless of age, geographic and economical confines.
Christensen, C.M, Horn, M.B. & Johnson, C.W. (2011) Disrupting Class: How disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns. New York: McGraw Hill.
New Media Consortium (2017). NMC/CoSN Horizon report 2017 K-12 edition.
https://cdn.nmc.org/media/2017-nmc-cosn-horizon-report-k12-
EN.pdfNMC/CoSN Horizon Report > 2017 K–12 Edition
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