In what has evolved into a sort of annual tradition, I again peered into my crystal ball (well, actually a truckload of reports, news articles, and a healthy dose of my own speculation) to see what we can expect in 2012. This time, however, I spoke with David Raths at Campus Technology magazine, and joined [...]
A lot has happened in the past week, and I feel that bits and pieces are coming together to form a huge break from the mainstream in human capital development in the Netherlands. In brief: On Monday, I visited TEDxDelft at TU Delft. The day was very well organized and included a selection of talks [...]
Just as wise investors diversify their investment portfolio, so should we build diverse portfolios of our schools. This means that we should not invest too heavily in any one strategy. If we do not know with any precision what the future will be, we cannot have one-size-fits-all schools. We need to expand our ecologies of options.
FORGET SCALING UP.
WE NEED TO SCALE SIDEWAYS IN EDUCATION.
As we shared earlier, Project Dream School started with a simple question: If you could build a dream school, what would you do?
This morning, I received some inspiring ideas. [...]
Book: 2011 state of the future Authors: Jerome C. Glenn, Theodore J. Gordon, and Elizabeth Florescu Publisher: The Millennium Project (August, 2011) Released last week, the Millennium Project’s 2011 state of the future report contains a sobering warning that: The world is getting richer, healthier, better educated, more peaceful, and better connected and people are [...]
In the current issue of On the Horizon, Arthur Harkins and I introduce systemic approaches to knowledge development and application — that is, a framework which provides a systems-language descriptive means for understanding and engaging in an expanding ecology of knowledge development options. We call this “MET” : mechanical (conservatively repetitive), evolutionary (self-organizing), and teleogenic (purposively creative)
Libraries are actively reinventing themselves for the digital age. Confronted with corrosive budgets, skyrocketing costs, and challenged by a fear of obsolesce resulting from the accelerating rate of technological change; libraries are struggling for their survival. For the academic library — the “heart” of the modern research university — survival requires demonstrating their value in new ways, [...]
Continuing a tradition started in years past, I list out my predictions for the key stories that will rock the education world in 2011. If I could put it into five words, 2011 will be all about mobile, mobile, change, change, and mobile. This next year, I’m looking more at the big picture…
About a year ago, Cristóbal Cobo and I announced a research project called Invisible Learning. After many months of work, collecting experiences, researching literature, interviews, and exchanges with experts (and –above all– many hours of writing), we can announce that in 2011 the Invisible Learning book will be a reality (in print and digital formats).
Last month, Rough Guides quietly released Jon Turney’s new book, The rough guide to the future. I was looking forward to the release of this book –not just because I’m quoted in one of its asides– but because I am always on the lookout for new primers on futures studies and serious looks into the future.
Last month, Douglas Rushkoff released “Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age,” a book on how to manage your freedom and identity in a social media-powered world. The question he asks –and I think this is critical for educators to consider– is do we lead in using technology, or do we let it use us?
Back in August, Josh Bernoff tweeted an offer for a free copy of his new book, Empowered, in exchange for a review at Amazon. I enjoyed his previous book, Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, co-authored with Charlene Li, so I took him up on the offer. Somehow, there was a delay in getting the book to me, and the text did not arrive until we were well into the fall semester — not a good time for a review. So, this is a little bit late, but better than never.
Milton Chen deviates from the change manifesto genre somewhat by reflecting on his own experiences and the work undertaken by Edutopia, which he previously directed. The book is so deeply oriented toward the work of Edutopia and its key source of income (George Lucas), that, prima facie, it nearly comes across as a swan song of their accomplishments. Reading beyond this, however, the book emerges as another list of indictments of many of the things wrong with the U.S. education system. Where Chen shines, is in making a case for changing our mindsets so that we can find remedies.
Professional futurists continue to make outstanding contributions toward the development of understandings of the future, but is futures thought limited to this select group? Definitely not! With a do-it-yourself attitude, and leverage of the right resources, anybody can become an effective futurist. Here’s why: Nobody knows the future – don’t trust anybody who says otherwise. [...]
We wrap up our ten days of top ten lists with ten resources that can help you start to think as an education futurist. This list is far from complete — feel free to post your own in the comments! Wikipedia Wired The New York Times The Wall Street Journal Kurzweil, R. (2005). The Singularity [...]
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