a.What will be the role/responsibility of schooling in 2025?
b. What rigorous/authentic learning experiences can teachers employ to engage all students in learning (especially those that might be otherwise left out)?
Schooling in 2025 will be, as we have stated, technology driven. What is important to remember however is that the students will still be in a school environment and interacting with peers and teachers every day. Schools will need to be able to provide life skills and tools for the students to prepare them for the outside world. Not only will the curriculum taught still be important, but the way that the students are learning through observing will be important too. Skills will need to be taught to the students. These include responsibility, respect, leadership and the ability/tools to adapt to all situations they may encounter later in life. It will be the responsibility of the school to teach the students these skills through demonstration and regular practice within the school day. We need to ensure that we are giving all of the students that pass through the school system the education and skills they may one day need in order to further their education or career. Without a base made in schools, the future population may lack these essential skills.
All students will need to be included in the learning within schools in 2025. Much like today this will be a goal that all teachers should keep in mind when planning their lesson and their day. Authentic learning experiences need to be included in the curriculum. We can do this by having hands on experiences and resources for the students to touch and explore when being taught a subject. Putting students into a mock situation, for example, and then having them recall not only what happened but their thoughts and feelings will let all students feel important when in a classroom. It is a chance for the students to shine and show their personal learning experience for the day or week. Content will have to be talked about and studied in a way that may force the teacher to differentiate as much as possible. We need to keep in mind that no two students learn the same way, and instead of ignoring that, we must embrace it. With all the technology that will be available to us, this differentiating process will make teaching different learners much more hands on and customized. It will be a great benefit to us as teachers, and the students.
