Conclusion

=Thank You for exploring the Vision of Learning 2025=

Learning 2025 is deeply grounded in a changing educational paradigm that is student-centered, innovative, and driven by a need to blend technology with sound, appropriate and individualized instruction to create high achieving, globally engaged students. The basis for Learning 2025’s proposal comes from the learning theories of constructivism and connectivism, and draws from the belief that students must be creators, builders and connectors of their own learning. Furthermore, the group believes that the concept of collaboration is at the core of a successful change in the educational paradigm. Learning 2025 is motivated to produce digitally competent students that are focused on the expansion of knowledge using learning devices and technologies, and accessing information and areas of thought from others, both locally and globally.

Learning 2025 believes in a multi-disciplinary curriculum that is highly individualized for each student and seeks to diminish the dividing lines between core subject areas by promoting learning through blended experiences that require students to produce authentic artifacts of their knowledge and growth. Such a curriculum consists of the ideas behind Problem Based Learning or PBL, where students begin with a real world problem, and seek to design a solution to that problem through a variety of channels, and the gathering, analyzing and synthesizing of information. Literacy permeates the curriculum, and students become literate in a variety of ways by reading and writing for information consistently. Students will be assessed using non-traditional assessment methods, and will be required to demonstrate understanding, skills and growth using technology and through the creation and production of learning artifacts.

The students in Learning 2025’s classrooms will learn in adaptive, flexible spaces that allow for and promote collaborative student grouping and work. These learning spaces will be designed to support the ubiquitous learner, and allow for “anywhere, anytime” learning to occur and prosper. Students will be encouraged to use cell phones, iPads, iPods, and other mobile technologies in the classroom, building the connection between home and school, as many students have and use these devices outside the classroom. Teachers will utilize and blend these mobile technologies into student learning, creating an environment that is friendly to social media and networking sites. The students of 2025 will be inherently digital native, and well versed in a variety of technologies. Learning 2025 schools will support the digital natives’ need to feel connected, and harness these habits for uses in education. Student learning groups will be chosen to be supportive of each learner and promote a positive and productive group dynamic where each learner feels valued and makes significant contributions. This style of grouping does not necessarily mean that learners will be grouped according to chronological age, as Learning 2025 feels that age should not be the sole determinant when choosing student groupings. Collaboration and cooperation play a key role here, as students learn to work together towards a common purpose in a group, as well as working to identify and establish themselves both within a learning group and as an intellectual.

The student learning experiences in 2025 will be enhanced by virtual reality technologies, allowing students to experience and live their learning using simulators, games, and 3D spaces. Students may also attend virtual classes, expanding their learning beyond the school building and breaking the mold of traditional student learning.

Students and teachers alike will experience personal and professional growth and learning through the construction of a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) or Network (PLN). Personal Learning Environments and Networks consist of people and tools from which is person gives and receives knowledge. Teachers engaged in learning through a PLE or PLN will have the ability to further their craft by learning from other education professionals, and consistently grow through interactions with their network. PLEs also promote self reflection, giving teachers an additional way to analyze and grow their practice. Students will also discover networked learning, and create connections with people, and tools, and find ways to manage this information, as well as share it.

Purposeful professional development, strong partnerships, and creative, informed financial planning will keep the vision of Learning 2025 alive in schools. Schools will also take advantage of open course content, and invest in technologies that are low cost, or free. Meaningful and purpose driven professional development will enable teachers to have the tools they need to facilitate learning in classroom of 2025. Teachers will need ongoing and interactive development opportunities to remain cutting edge, and inspire tomorrow’s leaders and thinkers. Schools must implement and strengthen partnerships within the community and with school stakeholders. Schools must be prepared to reach out to local officials, colleges, and business people to stress that it truly does take a village to raise a child. Community involvement will increase student learning and collaborating opportunities. Schools will need to look at creative ways to fund educational needs, and become aware of grants, discounts, and donation opportunities. Schools must prioritize their needs, and advocate for those needs financially.

Learning 2025 seeks to create an educational system that is sustainable, responsible, innovative, and productive. We seek to produce learners that are globally and digitally competent, and possess the ability to think critically and utilize a wide arsenal of learning tools from which to draw and share information. Learning 2025 students will be lifelong learners, armed with the skills necessary to succeed, or the ability to access the information needed to be successful. These students experience learning all around them, and continually evaluate and analyze information, making connections and seeing learning as a journey, rather than a destination. It is the sincere hope of Learning 2025 to inspire, educate, and motivate each student and instill the belief that the sky is not always the limit.