The “Future of Learning” Isn’t

Will Richardson
Aug 28, 2017 · 1 min read

Just read a headline that said “The Future of Learning to Be Revealed!”

And all could think of was, “fake news.”

This is the same tripe as when educators say stuff like “student learning has changed so much in the past decade” or “kids learn differently today.”

No. They really don’t. Nor will they learn differently in the future.

Learners have always learned, and will always learn in the same way. They learn what they are interested in. They learn what they need to learn. They learn those things that they want to learn more about.

Sure, the technologies have changed. Now the information is digital. The social aspects of learning have exploded. Knowledge is everywhere. It’s amazing, and it’s complex.

But can we stop with this line that says we have to change because learning has changed? It hasn’t. It won’t.

What has changed is this: learners now have more agency, more choice, more control over the what, when, why, and with whom of learning than ever before.

And if you’re thinking about the future of schooling, think more of that. More agency, not more technology.


Originally published at Will Richardson.com
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New contexts for new thinking about learning and schooling.

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Will Richardson

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Parent, author, speaker, instigator, blogger about the Web and its effects on schools, education and learning. Co-publisher of ModernLearners.com. @willrich45

Modern Learning

New contexts for new thinking about learning and schooling.

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