Reshaping the Future of Education

More intelligent and powerful computing resources are creating “new collar jobs,” which require specialized or relevant skills, often obtained through vocational training, not necessarily a 4-year college degree. Some companies have actually started to invest in job training programs of their own, or partner with schools to equip students with the exact skills they will need to get a job.

People used to pay for access to lifelong learning or continuing education. With so many technologies emerging and social media networks becoming a vehicle for education, more education entrepreneurs are offering just-in-time and on-demand disposable learning tools for all ages that used to be privileged opportunities for an elite group of learners. Thus, people need to learn to be more agile in adopting self-regulated learning skills and critical questioning skills.

People must be encouraged to ask critical questions freely. Current schooling and training models need to be updated to focus more on enablement: shifting the kind of questions from fact searching to questions that seek explanations. Lifelong learners are the designers and makers who must create their own jobs again and again; they must know how to question in order to innovate. Thus, training opportunities need to be redesigned, not just to hone technical competencies, but also to better integrate critical questioning skills.

Current schooling and training models need to be updated to focus more on enablement, engagement, and empowerment while learning activities must incorporate design thinking, solution making, and problem solving tasks, leveraging emerging computing resources, including artificial intelligence.