Josh Adler: I’m quite new to education, but completely immersed and have much to say. I thought I’d focus my crystal ball on a broad range of education industry issues, and wanted to avoid at all costs penning another “Have you heard about Khan Academy?” piece, (But now that that’s done)…
1. Practice-based learning takes centre stage
I’m now convinced, beyond any doubt, that experiential learning is the most powerful way to develop young people. You can sit through lectures, read, debate, even watch videos – but nothing is as immersive as allowing students to try their hand at something. For example, at African Leadership Academy where I work, we create elaborate ,simulated environments in which students can create and run businesses and non-profits, design products and pitch save-the-world ideas. I see more and more schools trying to bring experiential learning into their toolbox.
2. Blended learning goes experimental
If you’ve not heard yet how blended learning is the future of the classroom, you must have been asleep. According to experts, students will be watching videos at home and doing homework in class (now known as the flipped classroom). I’m not convinced either way yet, but my prediction for 2013 is that blended learning, through all sorts of trial-and-error approaches, will get experimented with in earnest. It will take years before we know what really works and in which contexts, but it’s going to be lots of fun to watch.
3. Business people enter education management
Perhaps this trend is to validate my own decisions but I think due to the excitement and investment going into education globally, people from business are going to enter the education space in droves. This isn’t new – people from business have been doing teaching gigs for ages – but that’s not what I’m talking about. I didn’t enter the space to teach. I came to help manage and grow an institution that seeks to change the future of our continent through its approach to developing the next generation. Expect to see former business execs entering education institutions at all levels in 2013. (If you’re thinking about it, and need a nudge, ping me.)
4. Education data and impact
In my recent Tech4Africa talk, I explained why I feel tech and finance have innovated faster than any other sectors – particularly social development. It’s because the activity of money and bytes are very easily measured,
enabling better decisions more frequently. Sectors such as education or social justice simply aren’t measured as easily.
However, the world of data and analytics has exploded, and I see the beginnings of this starting to touch education. We’ll be measuring many more data points in 2013, not only about learners and learning, but school facilities, teachers, home environments and other stuff. The prospects of this get me completely geeked out as an Open Data pundit, and I’m excited to work with people across the education landscape on this in the years
ahead. (again, ping me!)