Let’s envision two scenarios:
One – For-profit tech companies mine every bit of data about students to create reactive education portals where students login and learn required curriculum.
Teachers are relegated to semi-autonomous robots who spend their days overseeing rooms full of students who need to submit work by hand, or monitoring students for cheating if writing exams.
Accountability is non-existent.
Creativity is no longer encouraged because algorithms cannot account for thinking outside of programmed norms.
What originally was sold as an adaptive model to each student morphs into a one-size-fits-all based on an ideal that few fit into.
There are constant interruptions because of information leaks and hacked accounts/servers.
Those who can, make the leap to homeschooling only to discover it’s flooded with marketing gimmicks and endless social media debates about what’s “best.”
There’s a surge in enrollment for private schools who are initially welcoming to the flood, only to find they are now in marketing wars with other private schools… and many new ones that opened to cash in on what’s happening. Again, endless debates about what’s “best” for students ensues.
Society drastically stratifies between those who are held accountable to their education and those who have given up on it.
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Two – Our education system is re-conceived from the ground up, transforming curriculum into an organic, evolving process that makes direct connections to the world outside the classroom.
Incentives move away from marks, or grades, and towards mastery of concepts and skills.
Teachers provide direct support to students, who are receiving an individualized experience. Both groups are excited to be there every day and both are learning alongside each other.
There is not just one teacher per classroom, but several teachers and guest presenters on a constant rotation to provide different approaches and viewpoints for the students.
Technology is leveraged where appropriate, creating a synergy with learning and teaching.
The stigma against certain paths are removed and specialized programs in the arts, tech and the trades are in place. Subjects themselves move away from fragmentation and move towards a blending of expectations. There’s an expectation of numeracy in English just as much as media analysis in Math.
Society upholds the investment of education and holds themselves accountable in ensuring all students have access to all learning opportunities, especially those in much less fortunate circumstances.
If any of the above sounds familiar, it’s because this is already happening across North America. It’s not everything in one place, but there are many examples of each.
Where we end up depends on us.