Learning Makeover

Learning is undergoing a major disruption.

‘what’ to learn, ‘how’ to learn and  ‘why’ to learn are becoming three critical queries of the 21st century.

This is not because past learning processes have proved to be less effective, but more because future life scenarios envisage a significant shift from current learning orientations. The locus of responsibility has shifted from the teacher inside the classroom, to the umpteen learning opportunities in the outside world. Whereas this has in many ways made learning super exciting in real-time and uber-engaging to the mind; it has predicated confusion and chaos triggered by abundance of choices. 

The SHIFT

The first major shift is being witnessed in ‘what’ is learnt in the classrooms today.

‘ what ’ to be learnt needs to be defined by the relevance of times.

Whereas the past witnessed a synchronization between the speed of change and speed of adaptation, today, signals a monumental disruption because of the accelerated speed of change outpacing adaptation. This is even more conspicuous, in the knowledge world, as ‘what’ was learnt yesterday is slowly being erased by what is necessary to be learnt today. This dilemma of accommodating information in a constantly altering beta learning environment has created peculiarities of a different kind. 

The process of learning or ‘how’ one learns, has always been relegated by the emphatic thrust on ‘what’ i.e to be learnt. Many learning environments continue to embrace a prescriptive learning approach, where learning is imparted as a monologue to the masses and where memorization of information is the be-all of learning. This unfortunately deters high order thinking and extinguishes the spark in a learner’s mind. Whereas this model thrived in the past; in today’s high demand era of specialized global skills and digital fluencies, its failure is imminent.

There is an imperative need to metacognise and develop ones abilities in understanding and thinking ‘ how ’ to learn.

With the world still trying to decode the predicament of the millennials and the future forecasting endless queries from the centennials; the purpose of learning needs to be demystified. It’s All About the Why. “It’s not the math,” she said. “It’s just … I like fractions and all, but I don’t know why I’m learning this. When will I ever use it?”

‘why’ we learn has now become the most important question as it moves focus towards critical value creating opportunities that learners get through an experience.

 "So often in education we focus on the wrong things. Test scores. Marks. Awards. Simon Sinek has it right. We need to start with why."Why, what, how we learn needs to be understood, valued and meaning needs to be established.

Learning Value

With the three major indicators of ‘why’, ‘how’ and ‘what’ becoming the valued principles of learning, it becomes important to recast a new learning design, that appositely takes care of the future of learning.

The new learning conundrum requires a judicious blend of conceptual knowledge as its foundation with an interplay of practice as enrichment. Teachers role becomes even more critical in engaging students with rich, experiential, immersive and personalized experiences. "Every teacher will always need to possess iconic teacher practices like assessment, curriculum design, classroom management, and cognitive coaching." Alongside, teachers shall transition into becoming LEDs (Learning Experience Designers), who also build the meta-competences of students while steering knowledge transfer.

Today's disruptive times are replete with uncertainty and ambiguity, but there are phenomenal opportunities in these exciting times. There hasn't been a better time to become a more informed and able learner. "With all the disruptions in the modern economy, particularly technology, ongoing skill acquisition is critical to persistent professional relevance." Future frontiers shall leverage data, analytics, artificial intelligence and all dramatic technology influences, where the need for super intelligent human brains who evolve as continuous learners shall become even more necessary.

" Continuous learning lies at the heart of thriving in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution." and is so necessary in today's times.

Unless we bring real experience into the learning ecosystem and until we begin to nurture the potential of our youngsters towards more productive human capital, the purpose of learning shall get lost in the labyrinth of information. As cognitive neuroscientist Daniel Ansari put it at the Learning and the Brain conference on the Science of learning: Why do we care? we need to understand both why different strategies work, but also how they work in the real world. 

The purpose of learning is to augment the human spirit of inquiry, discovery and self-efficacy. The present era is a crucible for shaping this extraordinary human spirit, only if one can provide wind beneath the wings of young minds by giving them an extraordinary learning experience.