Page 24 - THE Journal, March/April 2018

24
| MARCH/APRIL 2018
ADVOCACY
By Keith Krueger
Back to the Future: What the Coming Fourth Industrial Revolution Means for Education
PPROXIMATELY 250 YEARS AGO, our world experienced a
shift that forever changed how humans lived and worked. Through the use of steam power and the development of advanced machinery and production methods, the Industrial Revolution set a rapid pace for social and economic
development. That period has since been followed by other revolutions
delivering the light bulb, advanced communications technology, computers and energy innovation.
Believe it or not, today we are in the midst of another unprecedented era: the Fourth Indus- trial Revolution. One that stands to shape education, learning and society like
never before.
You might be asking, what exactly is the Fourth Industrial Revolution — a transition coined by the World Economic Forum in 2016? The next 10 to 20 years will be a time of exponential change, with the emergence of artificial intelligence, 3D printing, digital comput- ing and robotics. Our physical and digital worlds are merging, and the speed and scope of this technological transformation are shifting our societal landscape. As the World Econom- ic Forum’s Klaus Schwab said, the Fourth Industrial Revolution “doesn’t change what we are doing, but it changes us.”
While this period is exciting and presents unlimited possibilities and endless opportuni- ties, it begs questions around the future of schools and learning. In particular, what are the implications of this era for the skills needed to succeed over the next two decades? How can schools and educators ensure that our students are ready for this exponential change?
As we have seen time and again, predictions are tricky, and often the best way to predict
the future is to look in the rearview mirror. However, there is a meaningful way to think about the future — and that is by “inventing” it.
At CoSN’s 2018 annual conference in March, attendees heard from leading educators and thought leaders about the Fourth Industrial Revolution and how we as educators can better prepare our students for this future.
As we have seen time and again, predictions are tricky, and often the best way to predict the future is to look in the rearview mirror. However, there is a meaningful way to think about the future — and that is by “inventing” it.
Rather than starting a conversation with the stuff (hardware, software or other tech- nologies), we should start by defining our vision for learning. For example, let’s define our vision for what we want learning to be about. My vision is that a learning environ- ment should enable students to create their own personalized path, allowing them to dive deeper and be critical thinkers. It should enable creativity and collaboration. It should be available and accessible to all learners and not generate increased divides. And, it should be used ethically to help us understand each other better.
When technology solves those hard chal- lenges, then it makes a profound difference. Technology is a tool, like a pen or paper or book or chalkboard. However, too often we say technology is “just” a tool. History has been changed with the tools of the past (the wheel, the printing press, the steam engine and so on), so technology is a powerful le- ver for change — either positive or negative. Let’s ensure that technology is inventing the future we want.
As we collectively move forward in this time of exponential change (and great promise!), I encourage school districts to engage their community in meaningful conversation about the implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution for the future of learning. You can start by:
• Asking your community (for example, school leaders, the school board, the PTA and so on) about your district’s vision for learning.
• Exploring the emerging technology trends that stand to impact learning di- rectly through the 2017 Horizon K-12 Report & Toolkit that CoSN co-produces.
• Checking out the new tools that CoSN has created to start a conversation about learning in the Fourth Industrial Revolu- tion on cosn.org.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is uncharted territory. But it promises to be a remarkable period of economic change, and it also paves the path for learning experi- ences and outcomes our society has never been able to achieve. Let’s take advantage of this historic transformation and invent our future.
Keith Krueger is CEO of CoSN, the Consortium for School Networking.