The Most Likely Scenario

I remember one of my first professional development sessions as a newly hired teacher about 10 years ago. I was in a group of 3-4 other teachers, and the Principal asked us to envision what the school of the future will look like. Our task was to actually draw what we thought it would look like. I remember thinking, "OK, I got this. I'm an art teacher. This should be no problem." I can draw anything. The thing I never expected was that I would eventually draw everything. I drew the school building,but then we began discussing field trips. So, I drew a post office and a zoo. I drew a doctor's office and a park. We discussed how kids would get to school. So I drew bike paths and bus routes. Soon, we had an entire community on our chart paper. This was the school of the future, and it was so integrated into the community that it became indistinguishable from all other aspects of daily living.

As I think back on the conversation we had that resulted in that vision of the future I realize we were essentially right on. The brick and mortar schools we occupy today will soon be relics of the past. We live in a mobile society that is getting more mobile each day. The digitalizaion of the world has allowed most jobs to be performed, not only from home, but literally from anywhere in the world. We skype, tweet, text, blog, and post status updates all day long. Students won't tolerate sitting in a classroom for 8 hours each day for much longer, nor should they.

Even when I was in college, there were classes offered outside the classroom. The technology is now outdated, just 12 years later. However, we have grown a lot from those early experiments in distance education. I even took 2 of those early video classes. They were nothing more than a video taped lecture version of the actual class. I met with my teacher one time at the end of the semester. The rest of the time I watched the videos and took the written assessments that were given to me along with the videos, which I mailed to my teacher each week. It was a horrible model for learning, but it was an early step in liberating the students from having to take a class at a particular time and location.

If we fast forward to 2012 it's easy to see how that concept can be applied using our current technology to be adapted into an engaging and meaningful experience. Just think about the rapid pace of technological advancement that is occurring and imagine the possibilities in 10 years, or 20 years. At some point, the line between school and the rest of life will be almost gone completely.

The role of teachers is already changing. We are no longer dispensers of knowledge. The best ones understand that we have to engage students in meaningful experiences that are authentic. I always found it curious when teachers would say things like, "When you get out in the real world things are going to be different." That should have been our first clue that something was wrong. First of all, the last time I checked school was a part of the real world. Secondly, if school is so different from the "real world", then why aren't we frantically seeking to align it with reality? Meaningful experiences are based within the larger community as students interact with their peers and with the people in the community. Some of my most memorable experiences in school were field trips. I usually learned more in one field trip than I learned in several weeks from a textbook. And I still remember those lessons because they were developed along-side emotionally relevant connections with others. What if everyday were designed in a similar way?

In closing, here are a few of my predictions:

Time will be flexible. Sitting in class all day will be replaced with mostly experiences within the larger community to make learning more authentic and meaningful.

Textbooks will be gone. They will be replaced by ipads and whatever similar digital devices are developed within the next few years.

Teachers will be in more of a consultant and coaching role than what they are currently.

Grade levels will be replaced by individualized portfolios of progress for students.

And we can keep our fingers crossed that standardized testing is abolished and becomes a distant memory so that we can once again instill joy in teaching and learning!